There isn't one single "biggest religion" in China, as the largest group identifies as non-religious (around 52%), but Chinese folk religions and Buddhism are the most significant traditional spiritual practices, with Buddhism often cited as the largest institutionalized religion (around 18-20%), followed by folk beliefs and smaller numbers of Christians and Muslims, though precise figures vary greatly due to mixed beliefs and government control.
According to 2021 estimates from the CIA World Factbook, among people claiming any religious beliefs, 52.1% of the population is unaffiliated, 21.9% follows Chinese Folk Religion, 18.2% follows Buddhism, 5.1% follow Christianity, 1.8% follow Islam, and 0.7% follow other religions including Taoism.
In China, it's not illegal to possess a Bible or other Christian literary materials. However, the laws around selling and purchasing these resources have become much stricter in recent years.
Christianity is the world's largest religion by number of followers, with over 2.4 billion adherents, followed closely by Islam, with nearly 2 billion, and then Hinduism and Buddhism, with billions and hundreds of millions, respectively, though Islam is projected to grow faster and potentially overtake Christianity in the coming decades, according to reports from organizations like the Pew Research Center.
Media sources report Buddhism, particularly Tibetan Buddhism, is growing in popularity among the Han Chinese population. The central government classifies worship of Mazu, a folk deity with Taoist roots, as “cultural heritage” rather than religious practice.
Indonesia is home to the largest Christian community made up of converts from their former Islamic faith; according to various sources, since the mid and late 1960s, between two million and 2.5 million Muslims converted to Christianity.
By 2050, Christianity is projected to remain the world's largest religion, but Islam is expected to nearly equal it in numbers, with both groups comprising around 30-31% of the global population, driven by higher birth rates in Muslim-majority areas and significant growth in Christian populations, particularly in developing regions, according to Pew Research Center analyses.
Donald Trump identifies as a nondenominational Christian, having previously been associated with Presbyterianism and influenced by Norman Vincent Peale's "positive thinking," though his faith journey includes shifting affiliations and a strong connection with evangelical Christians, with recent statements emphasizing a stronger faith after a life-threatening event. While raised Presbyterian and attending church as a child, he declared himself nondenominational in 2020, yet his religious identity is complex, drawing from various Christian influences and appealing to a broad base of Christian supporters, including Christian nationalists.
The following items are prohibited from entering China: arms, ammunition, and explosives of all kinds; counterfeit currencies and counterfeit negotiable securities; printed matter, magnetic media, films, or photographs that are deemed to be detrimental to the political, economic, cultural, and moral interests of China; ...
Christianity in China is not illegal. The official stance of the Communist Party is atheistic, but that's not forced on all Chinese citizens or expatriates.
For most of Chinese imperial history, religious practice was tightly controlled by the state. The People's Republic of China also heavily regulates religion, and has increasingly implemented a policy of sinicization of Christianity since 2018.
Relative to its own populations, Zuckerman ranks the top five countries with the highest possible ranges of atheists and agnostics: Sweden (46–85%), Vietnam (81%), Denmark (43–80%), Norway (31–72%), and Japan (64–65%).
In China Islam is called huijao 回教, huihuijiao 回回教"religion of the Hui(hui)", zhenjiao 真教"the true religion", qingzhenjiao 清真教"the pure and true religion" (or the religion of the shahada), Dashifa 大食法"the rules of Persia", tianfangjiao 天房教"the religion of the Heavenly Cube" (i.e. the Ka'ba in Makka), or, in modern ...
According to the annual statistical research on religion in 2015 by the Agency for Culture Affairs, Government of Japan, followers of Shintoism make up 70.4% of the total population, followers of Buddhism make up 69.8% of the population, followers of Christianity make up 1.5% of the population, and followers of other ...
Mainline Protestants predominate, with Episcopalians and Presbyterians being the most prevalent. John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden are so far the only Catholic presidents.
Unitarian Christians: They believe in the oneness of God and do not view Jesus as divine in the same way Trinitarian Christians do. They respect Jesus as a great teacher and prophet but do not worship Him as God.
Raised Presbyterian, Trump converted to Orthodox Judaism in July 2009 after studying with Elie Weinstock of the Ramaz School. She adopted the Hebrew name Yael. She has described the conversion as a "beautiful journey" supported by her father from the outset.
Religious apocalypticism
Arising originally in Zoroastrianism, apocalypticism was developed more fully in the eschatological speculations of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (the Abrahamic religions).
77% of new converts to Islam are from Christianity, whereas 19% were from non-religion. Meanwhile, among American-born Muslims who have left Islam, about 55% now identify with no religion, 22% identify as Christian, and another 21% identify with other faiths.
The 2021 Census found 43.9 per cent of people in Australia identified as Christian. This was down from 52.1 per cent in 2016, and 61.1 per cent in 2011 and marks a 17.2 per cent decrease over a decade.
In 2030, Muslims will experience a rare "double Ramadan," fasting twice within the Gregorian calendar year (early January and late December) due to the lunar Islamic calendar's shift; demographic trends suggest continued significant growth, with India potentially having the largest Muslim population and substantial increases in Europe and the U.S., while religious practices will focus on increased devotion and reflection during these two holy months.
A comprehensive religious forecast for 2050 by the Pew Research Center predicts that the global Muslim population will grow at a faster rate than the Christian population – primarily due to the average younger age, and higher fertility rate of Muslims.