The Church of England has released its Cathedral Statistics 2024. There is an accompanying press release which is copied below. Statistics for earlier years may be found here.
Cathedral statistics show continued growth in 2024
28/08/2025
The Church of England’s latest cathedral statistics show continued growth in 2024, with weekly attendance rising to 31,900, an increase of eleven per cent compared to 2023. The rise was driven particularly by midweek services, which saw a 15 per cent increase in adult attendance and a 16 per cent increase in child attendance, although still lower than the pre-pandemic figure.
Easter services attracted 50,200 worshippers, a 12 per cent increase year-on-year, while Holy Week attendance reached 90,200. However, Christmas attendance dipped slightly to 121,100, down three per cent from 2023, and Advent services saw a similar decline.
Visitor numbers continued to climb, reaching 9.87 million in 2024 – surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time. Cathedrals also hosted 6,000 public and civic events, including 370 graduation ceremonies, with a total attendance of 1.74 million.
Musical life in cathedrals flourished, with 2,120 choristers and lay clerks (adult professional singers), and 2,070 voluntary choir members meaning figures are now above pre-pandemic levels. The total number of cathedral choirs also reached a record high of 207.
Cathedrals also reported growth in baptisms (up 8 per cent) and maintained stable numbers in marriages and funerals. Educational engagement remained strong, with over 203,000 children and young people attending cathedral-led educational events.
The report highlights the enduring role of cathedrals in civic, cultural, and spiritual life, with nearly 13,000 volunteers supporting their work and 95 per cent of cathedrals continuing to offer Church at Home services.
The Dean of Canterbury, David Monteith, who Chairs the Church of England’s College of Deans, said:
“This year’s statistics reflect a Church that is alive with possibility. We continue to see a significant revival in cathedral worship since the depths of the pandemic, with renewed energy in midweek services, music, and community engagement.
“Cathedrals continue to be places of welcome, joy, and reflection – where ancient rhythms meet contemporary needs. Whether through worship, education, or civic life, our cathedrals are helping people reconnect with faith, with one another, and with hope.
“I am deeply grateful to all who minister, volunteer, and serve in our cathedrals. Their imaginative dedication is helping to shape a Church that is resilient, responsive, and determinately rooted in the life of the nation.”
Two of the most encouraging signs in this report is the growth in cathedral choirs and music, and the growth in midweek attendance. I know that there is a resource issue here and its not going to work everywhere… but if more parish churches were to improve their musical offering, and to offer a better midweek offering – then there is something that parish churches can learn from Cathedral trends which could bear much fruit. Putting all our eggs into the Sunday basket is just not going to cut it any more.
Well, yes and no. I’ve worked in the two smallest English Cathedrals (Derby and Chelmsford) where resource issues were big – when I first arrived at Derby we didn’t even have a full time Director of Music (though he was amazing and nurtured fantastic choirs. And whilst cathedral congregations in some places are large by comparison both on Sundays and weekdays, many Deans who move from being vicars of “larger” churches are often taken by surprise that they’ve come to something rather smaller. Certainly that was my experience moving from a 400+ church in Harrogate with 250 in the Sunday… Read more »
I must thank Dr Eames and Ms Day for their work, but it does seem that there has been permanent post-pandemic scarring, and that (in the context of a growing population) cathedral attendance is almost back to where it was a decade ago. If that is deemed to be ‘success’, then fine, but it needs to be viewed in context. It would be useful if the statistics could be broken down by cathedral, because as has been noted here in the past – IIRC – it seems to me that some cathedrals do benefit from being on the tourist trail,… Read more »
As ever, thank you to everyone for your comments. I can’t share figures for individual cathedrals, but I’ve had a quick look and perhaps can help the conversation a little: Looking at the usual Sunday and midweek attendance (i.e. the variables shown in Table 3, p24): about two thirds of cathedrals reported an increase in attendance from 2023 to 2024. Of course, some of the increases (and some of the decreases) were small, and may indicate simple fluctuations rather than being indicators of triumph or disaster. As far as usual Sunday attendance is concerned, and adult midweek attendance too, it… Read more »
I think I’d both want to affirm what Nicholas Henshall says from his two very distinctive sides of the question (and knowing quite a few cathedral and collegiate situations myself), and also to ask the question how exactly many parishes are going to ‘improve their musical offering (and/or their midweek offering)’. I happen to have spent over 40 years of adult life (lay and ordained) in churches whose musical cultures have depended entirely on the strengths and limitations of the dedicated musicians that they happen to have had (often for a substantial time), in areas where the pool of potential… Read more »