"THE ENGLISH CHURCH CENSUS
The English Church Census was carried out by Christian Research on 8 May 2005 with the participation of 18,720 churches - half of the total of 37,501 known churches in England originally contacted. Statistics and figures below are therefore based on information supplied by churches on attendance figures for all services on May 2005.
Estimates have been made for those who did not respond, partly on the basis that their figures would on average be similar to those who did respond, but also comparing the results with previous studies and/or published denominational figures.
Further information on the English Church Census' methodology can be obtained from 'Religious Trends 6' and 'Pulling Out of the Nosedive', Christian Research 2006.

GENERAL CENSUS FINDINGS
Overall church attendance
Based on the Census findings it is now estimated that:
Of the 50,309,000 people living in England, 3,166,200 usually attend church on a Sunday; regular churchgoers therefore amount to 6.3% of the total population.
The number of existing churches in England is estimated to stand at 37,501.
The proportion of churches per individuals is now one church to 1,340 people; the size of the average Sunday congregation, however, is 84.
Since 1998 there has been an overall decline in regular church attendance of 15%, from 3,714,700 to 3,166,200.
The largest section of regular churchgoers, 57%, live in towns or suburban areas; 24% in cities or estates, and 19% in rural areas.

Ethnicity and regular churchgoing
Census figures reveal that at present 83% of churchgoers are white, 10% black, and 7% from various other non-white ethnic backgrounds.
This means that non-white church attendance has increased by 19% since 1998, while the white churchgoing community has dropped by 19%.
According to these figures, black church attendance is at least three times their proportion in the population, which was 2.6% in the 2001 National Census and is currently estimated to be around 3.8%.
Church attendance among Chinese, Korean and Japanese is also well above their proportion in the population, which is estimated at 0.8% and was 0.4% in 2001.
The proportion of non-white churchgoers is highest in London, where 44% of churchgoers are now black, 14% other non-white, and only 42% white."