Sweden is one of the world's most secular and irreligious nations, partly because many Swedish people define themselves as irreligious but spiritual people. Phil Zuckerman, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Pitzer College, writes that several academic sources have in recent years placed atheism rates in Sweden between 46% and 85%, with one source reporting that only 17% of respondents self-identified as "atheist".
Sweden's official website asserts that just three out of 10 Swedes state that they have confidence in the church. The article lists the following facts about religion in Sweden:
Statistics from the Church of Sweden states that:
Many Swedes attend church due to traditional or cultural reasons, but are otherwise not practicing Christians. One poll found that only 15% of Church of Sweden members actually believe in Jesus.
Relatedly, the Swedish government has passed several secular reforms over the years; a legal opt-out of the previously mandatory 1.1% church tax was allowed in 1951, automatic birthright membership in the Church of Sweden - the organization's enrollment practice since the 1850s - ended in 1996, and the Church of Sweden was formally separated from the state in 2000, leaving Sweden as "the only Nordic country without a state church".