About This File
About 1 person in 4 has swum nude and nearly as many have sunbathed nude. One in five has seen a neighbour nude and a similar number have themselves been nude in their garden. Two thirds said that garden nudity should be legal. At least 1.2 million people describe themselves as being a naturist which is roughly the same as the membership of the Church of England but it could be double that number.
It is extremely difficult to determine how many naturists there are without a high quality survey. When naturists get dressed the disguise is perfect and naturists do sometimes encounter appalling prejudice so most are very careful whom they let know. Naturism is much more popular and much more generally acceptable than many people believe.