In some cities in Lower Saxony, significantly more people left the church this year than in previous years. In the state capital of Hanover, there were more than 7,000 people by mid-December, around 4,700 of them from the Evangelical Lutheran Church and almost 2,300 from the Catholic Church, as stated on request. In the whole of 2021 there were 6,624 people leaving the church, and around 5,300 in 2020. No city stated that the number of people leaving the church had fallen.

In Delmenhorst, around 550 people have left the church by mid-December of this year, a year earlier it was just under 500. In Emden there were almost 480 people this year, compared to 382 a year earlier.

In the city of Osnabrück, the number of people leaving the church rose very significantly - by the end of November it was almost 2300, in the entire previous year 1448. In the city of Salzgitter there was also a significant increase - from 569 people last year to more than 650 this year . In Oldenburg, around 300 more people left the church this year than a year earlier, in Braunschweig around 700 more, in Wolfsburg around 250 more, in the city of Wilhelmshaven around 175 more and in Wolfenbüttel 70 more than in the same period of comparison.

Some cities could not break down the numbers by denomination. Reasons why people leave the church are not recorded, some municipalities said.