It is complicated. Some people who come from a Catholic or Orthodox background still want to identify with that background as a cultural identity (e.g. "cultural Catholic") even if they no longer believe in its doctrines or follow its practices. The same happens sometimes for Protestants too, but seems to be somewhat less common among them–a Protestant who stops believing is more likely to just be a "none" than to call themselves "culturally Protestant".
One can point to some examples of "cultural Protestantism" though. Northern Ireland: in the 2011 census†, over 40% of its population identified as "Protestant", but for many of them it is primarily a cultural identity rather than a religious one. The outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins has repeatedly called himself a "cultural Anglican", and I'm sure he'd not be the only person to say that (although Anglicans disagree among themselves about whether Anglicanism is Protestant, so a "cultural Anglican" may not necessarily consider themselves a "cultural Protestant")
> but usually wont consider themselves Protestant without having made a formal choice to follow Jesus and join a church (whatever that means from within their denomination).
That's a biased criterion because the criterion itself is based on Protestant cultural assumptions, which in turn are based on Protestant theological assumptions. Many Protestants believe one becomes a Christian by making "a formal choice to follow Jesus". Catholics and Orthodox believe one becomes a Christian by baptism, and infants who are incapable of making such a choice are regularly baptised. It is not that Catholics and Orthodox do not care about personal faith, they do, but they do not make it the central focus in the way that many Protestants do.
And that (in part) explains why there are more cultural Catholics than cultural Protestants – to Catholics, the Church is first and foremost a community, and once you are in, you are in for life – maybe you no longer attend, don't believe, don't want to have anything to do with it – but if you ever change your mind, you'll be welcome back with a minimum of fuss, as if you'd been there all along. So Catholic theology encourages the "cultural Catholic" phenomenon in a way that Protestant theology does not.
† The 2021 census results are due out next year, which will give us a more current picture of Northern Ireland's religious demographics
One can point to some examples of "cultural Protestantism" though. Northern Ireland: in the 2011 census†, over 40% of its population identified as "Protestant", but for many of them it is primarily a cultural identity rather than a religious one. The outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins has repeatedly called himself a "cultural Anglican", and I'm sure he'd not be the only person to say that (although Anglicans disagree among themselves about whether Anglicanism is Protestant, so a "cultural Anglican" may not necessarily consider themselves a "cultural Protestant")
> but usually wont consider themselves Protestant without having made a formal choice to follow Jesus and join a church (whatever that means from within their denomination).
That's a biased criterion because the criterion itself is based on Protestant cultural assumptions, which in turn are based on Protestant theological assumptions. Many Protestants believe one becomes a Christian by making "a formal choice to follow Jesus". Catholics and Orthodox believe one becomes a Christian by baptism, and infants who are incapable of making such a choice are regularly baptised. It is not that Catholics and Orthodox do not care about personal faith, they do, but they do not make it the central focus in the way that many Protestants do.
And that (in part) explains why there are more cultural Catholics than cultural Protestants – to Catholics, the Church is first and foremost a community, and once you are in, you are in for life – maybe you no longer attend, don't believe, don't want to have anything to do with it – but if you ever change your mind, you'll be welcome back with a minimum of fuss, as if you'd been there all along. So Catholic theology encourages the "cultural Catholic" phenomenon in a way that Protestant theology does not.
† The 2021 census results are due out next year, which will give us a more current picture of Northern Ireland's religious demographics