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CHRISTIAN BEUTLER
The number of people leaving the church increased by about a quarter – in 2018, 25,366 people left the church, as the SPI announced on Thursday. And that was also an increase of about a quarter. Last year, the exit rate across Switzerland averaged 1.1 percent.
The cantonal differences are striking. The cantons of Geneva, Valais, Neuchâtel and Vaud have practically no resignations. This can be explained by the different tax systems of the church, writes the SPI. In the cantons of western Switzerland mentioned, the reason for leaving church to save taxes is omitted.
If these cantons are excluded from the statistics, the average exit rate is 1.4 percent. This value is similar to that of neighboring countries (Germany: 1.2%, Austria: 1.3%). Also in these countries, the number of people leaving has increased in recent years.
In Switzerland, from a cantonal point of view, the canton of Basel-Stadt ranks first with an exit rate of 4.9%, followed by the cantons of Aargau (2.2%) and Solothurn (2.1% ). At the other end of the scale are the cantons of Appenzell-Innerrhoden (0.5%), Jura (0.8%) and Uri (0.9%), rural cantons characterized by Catholicism.
