YouGov has retracted the data behind a widely cited Bible Society report that suggested Christianity was growing in England and Wales, particularly among Gen Z.
The 2024 report, “The Quiet Revival,” drew major attention for claiming that the share of adults in England and Wales who identify as Christian and attend church once a month had risen from 8% in 2018 to 12% in 2024. Its most striking claim was among 18- to 24-year-old males, where monthly attendance was reported to have jumped from 4% to 16%.
Now, YouGov says that data appears to be fraudulent.
In a statement released Thursday, the polling firm said a re-analysis found “a number of respondents who we can now identify as fraudulent” in the sample used for the study.
“YouGov takes full responsibility for the outputs of the original 2024 research, and we apologise for what has happened,” said YouGov CEO Stephan Shakespeare. “We would like to stress that Bible Society have at all times accurately and responsibly reported the data we supplied to them. We are running the survey again with Bible Society to get robust data on this topic.”
Bible Society said it is “deeply disappointed” by the reversal.
CEO Paul Williams said the organization had been assured over a 15-month period that the methodology was sound and the report’s conclusions were reliable. He said the group commissioned the research to understand what was actually happening on the ground, not to manufacture a hopeful narrative.
The report seemed to challenge the long-running assumption that Christianity in the U.K. is only moving in one direction: down. Headlines about a possible “quiet revival” spread quickly because the findings suggested something surprising — that younger adults, especially young men, might be returning to church in meaningful numbers.
That surprise is also part of why the report drew scrutiny.
Sociologists and polling experts questioned whether the findings lined up with broader long-term trends, prompting YouGov to take another look at the data. After that review, the company decided the original sample was unreliable and said it will run the survey again with Bible Society.
“While religious identity overall is shifting from ‘Christian’ to ‘no religion,’ Christianity in Britain appears to be moving from a declining nominal faith to a committed and active one, as cultural shifts — especially among younger people — encourage a more proactive search for identity, meaning and purpose,” Williams said, directing people to Bible Society’s new report, “The Quiet Revival one year on: what’s the story?”
Still, the main takeaway is pretty straightforward: one of the most talked-about recent pieces of evidence for renewed Christian growth in England has now been discredited. That does not settle the bigger question of whether spiritual interest is rising among younger people in the U.K.; it just means this particular study cannot be used as proof. A new survey is now being commissioned, with YouGov saying additional safeguards will be in place.
For now, the “quiet revival” story looks a lot less certain than it did a week ago.
