RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
Do you know…
that the Chinese experienced the most significant shifts in religious affiliation over the years?
While both Buddhism and Taoism were the traditional Chinese religions of long standing, Buddhism had become much more widespread in the past two decades and had surpassed Taoism as the main religion of the Chinese. In 2000, 54 per cent of the Chinese identified themselves as Buddhists, up from 34 per cent in 1980 and 39 per cent in 1990 (Table 1). Despite the growth of Buddhism, there was a distinct shift away from the traditional Chinese religions as a whole. The proportion of Chinese who practised either Buddhism or Taoism had declined from 73 per cent in 1980 to 68 per cent in 1990 and 64 per cent in 2000.
TABLE 1 |
RESIDENT POPULATION AGED 15 YEARS AND OVER
BY ETHNIC GROUP AND RELIGION |
Per Cent |
| Ethnic Group/Religion |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
| |
| Chinese |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
| Christianity |
10.9 |
14.3 |
16.5 |
| Buddhism |
34.3 |
39.4 |
53.6 |
| Taoism |
38.2 |
28.4 |
10.8 |
| Other Religions |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
| No Religion |
16.4 |
17.7 |
18.6 |
| |
| Malays |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
| Islam |
99.6 |
99.6 |
99.6 |
| Other Religions |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.4 |
| No Religion |
0.1 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
| |
| Indians |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
| Christianity |
12.5 |
12.2 |
12.1 |
| Islam |
22.1 |
26.5 |
25.6 |
| Hinduism |
56.3 |
53.1 |
55.4 |
| Other Religions |
8.0 |
7.1 |
6.3 |
| No Religion |
1.2 |
1.2 |
0.6 |
While the growth of Christianity had not kept pace with Buddhism, it had overtaken Taoism as the second most important religion of the Chinese. The Christians made up just 17 per cent of the Chinese in 2000. The proportion of Christians had grown steadily from 11 per cent in 1980 to 14 per cent in 1990, but the increase had slowed in the last decade. The increase in share was due to the prevalence of Christianity among the growing population of the better-educated Chinese with post-secondary and university qualifications.
There were no significant changes in the religious affiliation of the Malays during the last twenty years. Virtually all Malays were Muslims.
The religious affiliation of the Indians was more diverse though there was no change over the years. Among the Indians, Hinduism had the largest following (55 per cent). Islam was the second most important religion, accounting for slightly over a quarter of the Indians. Christianity had not gained any ground among the Indians, with the proportion of Christians remaining at 12 per cent in the last two decades.
Last updated: 30 Jun 2007
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