2014, 11 Feb - Asian Tribune
It is noteworthy that until about 2010, the estimates made of the Buddhist population of most countries in the world, especially of the traditionally Buddhist countries, have been grossly underestimated. This led to the marked underestimation of the total Buddhist population of the world. Information published not only in most websites, but also reported in nearly all encyclopedias, almanacs and other popular reference sources on population, emanating predominantly from the western world, has been highly misleading, deceptive and grossly inaccurate. Gross underestimation has been the order of the day until very recent times.
The gross underestimation of the Buddhist population in traditionally Buddhist nations with large Buddhist populations such as China, Japan and Vietnam in particular, led to large-scale inaccuracies in the overall estimate of the overall Buddhist population in the world. One reason for this anomalous situation is the fact that population enumerators, especially those from the western world, had problems in identifying or determining who is a Buddhist. In most Far Eastern countries, there are many Buddhists who follow other traditional faiths and it is not clear whether they were counted as Buddhists.
More accurate estimates of Buddhist population of different countries are available today. These are based on studies and investigations that have taken into account all relevant information on people professing the Buddhist faith in different countries. The results of these studies were published in the years 2010 and 2013. (www.thedhamma.com/buddhists_in_the_world.htm 2010; “China Beliefs” Justchina.org.,2011; “China Culture Exploring Assistant”, China business Interpreter.com,2011, CIA The World Fact book: Populations as of July 2013, The Dhamma Encyclopedia - Buddhism in the World). These estimates reveal the true situation regarding Buddhist populations in different countries.
In July 2010, the total Buddhist population of the world was estimated at 1.6 billion (1,595,485,458), amounting to about 22% of the total global population. This has been reported as a liberal estimate. China with a current Buddhist population of over one billion (a liberal estimate is 1,070,893,447) accounts for a greater part of the world’s Buddhist population. This has been confirmed by the references cited above, besides references to China’s Buddhist population in U.S. State Department Report on China, Global Center for the Study of Contemporary China, China Daily, and a report by Christian missionaries in China. These sources report that about 80% to 90% of Chinese identify with Buddhism as one of the several faith traditions they observe. Some recent studies indicate that as much as 98% of Chinese consider themselves as Buddhists, but indicate that they also subscribe to several other Chinese spiritual traditions.
(www.thedhamma.com/buddhists_in_the_world.htm,
The Dhamma Encyclopedia, Definition of a Buddhist by David N. Snyder).
The Dhamma Encyclopedia, Definition of a Buddhist by David N. Snyder).
Buddhist Population Of Selected Countries
Country
|
Buddhists
|
% of Total Pop
|
China
|
1billion
|
(80%)
|
Japan
|
122million
|
(96%)
|
Vietnam
|
70million
|
(75%)
|
Thailand
|
64million
|
(95%)
|
Myanmar
|
49.7million
|
(90%)
|
India
|
36.6million
|
(03%)
|
South Korea
|
24.5million
|
(50%)
|
Taiwan
|
21.7million
|
(93%)
|
Sri Lanka
|
15.2million
|
(70%)
|
Cambodia
|
14.7million
|
(97%)
|
Hong Kong
|
6.4million
|
(90%)
|
USA
|
6million
|
(02%)
|
Malaysia
|
6.2million
|
(21%)
|
Laos
|
5million
|
(67%)
|
Indonesia
|
4.3million
|
(01.7%)
|
North Korea
|
3.4
|
(14 %)
|
Nepal
|
3.3million
|
(11.5%)
|
Mongolia
|
3million
|
(93%)
|
Singapore
|
2.8million
|
(51%)
|
Philippines
|
2million
|
(01.5%)
|
Russia
|
2million
|
(01.4%)
|
Canada
|
1.2million
|
(03.5%)
|
Bangladesh
|
1.1million
|
(00.7%)
|
France
|
1million
|
(01.5%)
|
Brazil
|
1million
|
(0.5%)
|
Germany
|
905,657
|
(01%)
|
UK
|
760,747
|
(01%)
|
Bhutan
|
609,249
|
(84%)
|
Brunei
|
58,498
|
(17%)
|
Macau
|
466,402
|
(75%)*
|
Sikkim
|
171,000
|
(28%) **
|
Ladakh
|
125,000
|
(45%) ***
|
Christmas Island
|
1,554
|
(75%)
|
* Macau - a Special Administrative Region of China with a high degree of autonomy. Situated near Hong Kong, estimated population of 624,000 and is the most densely populated region in the world. Macau is one of world's richest cities, with the highest GDP. It is one of world's largest gambling centres with an economy heavily dependent on gambling and tourism. Macau has the second highest life expectancy in the world and is one of very few regions in Asia with a "very high Human Development Index".
** Sikkim located in the Himalayan mountains near Nepal, China and Bhutan, was an independent Buddhist nation in the past, but in 1975 merged with India.
*** Ladakh is a Himalayan region of India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir bordering China. It’s culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet. Almost half of Ladakhis are Tibetan Buddhists.
In recent years, an increasing trend is observed among the Buddhist communities in some non-traditional Buddhist countries in Europe such as Netherlands(201,660), Switzerland (79,960), Spain (300,000), Italy (122,965), Uzbekistan (85,985) and South America such as - Costa Rico (96,733), Mexico (108,700), Panama (68,000), Chile (17,200), Peru (89,500), Argentina (42,600),Venezuela (56,000).
Magnitude Of The Buddhist Population
There are 25 countries in the world where Buddhist population exceeds one million. Five of these countries - China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam have exceptionally large Buddhist populations (I billion, 122 million, 64 million, 50 million, 69 million respectively). In these five countries Buddhists account for more than 75% of their total populations. In three of them, namely Japan, Thailand and Myanmar, the percentage of Buddhists amounts to more than 90% of their total populations. It is noteworthy that among the five most populous Buddhist countries in the world mentioned above, three are predominantly followers of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition (China, Japan and Vietnam) and account for about 75% of the world’s Buddhist population. The other two – Thailand and Myanmar are followers of are Theravada tradition.
It is significant note that the first three of these countries alone with a combined population of 1.19 billion, predominantly follow the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and account for about 75% of the total Buddhist population of the world. Countries that predominantly profess the Mahayana-Vajrayana and other non-Theravada Buddhist traditions amount to about 85% of the global Buddhist population. The total population of countries that predominantly profess the Theravada Buddhist tradition such as Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, India and some Western countries, amounts to 248 million or about 15% of the world’s Buddhist population. However, it is important to note that predominantly Mahayana countries such as China and Japan have significant numbers of Theravada Buddhists (China – 53.5 million and Japan- 6.1 million).
In 14 countries the Buddhist populations account for more than 50%. Among them are seven countries where Buddhists constitute for more than 90% of total population:
Country
|
Percentage
|
Population
|
Cambodia
|
97%
|
14.7 million
|
Japan
|
96%
|
122million
|
Thailand
|
95%
|
64 million
|
Taiwan
|
93%
|
21.7million
|
Mongolia
|
93%
|
3 million
|
Myanmar
|
90%
|
49.65million
|
Hong Kong
|
90%
|
6.4million
|
Bhutan
|
84%
|
0.609,249
|
China
|
80%
|
1billion
|
Vietnam
|
75%
|
70 million
|
Sri Lanka
|
70%
|
15.2 million
|
Laos
|
67%
|
5million
|
Singapore
|
51%
|
2.8 million
|
South Korea
|
50%
|
24.5 million
|
The following are traditional Buddhist regions and not sovereign states with significant percentages of Buddhists:
| Country | Percentage | Population |
| Macau | 75% | 466,402 |
| Christmas Island | 75% | 1,554 |
| Ladakh | 45% | 125,000 |
| Sikkim | 28% | 171,000 |
Theravada Buddhist Population
Country
|
Buddhist Population
|
Percentage
|
• Thailand
|
62,000,382
|
99 %
|
• Sri Lanka
|
14, 783,720
|
99 %
|
• Myanmar
|
42,890,727
|
99%
|
• Cambodia
|
13,631,883
|
99%
|
• Laos
|
5,074,944
|
99%
|
• India
|
28,434,850
|
75%
|
• Japan
|
6,101,142
|
5%
|
• China (liberal est.)
|
53,544,672
|
5 %
|
• China (conservative est.
|
33,465,420
|
5%
|
• Other Asian countries
|
17,079,430
|
8%
|
Total Theravada in Asia
|
243,541,751
| |
USA
|
2,147,275
|
35%
|
Canada
|
128,956
|
35%
|
Total Theravada in N. America
|
2,276,231
| |
Germany
|
452,828
|
50%
|
France
|
386,607
|
50%
|
UK
|
366,698
|
50%
|
Other European Countries
|
274,995
|
35%
|
Total Theravada In Europe
|
1,481,128
| |
Total Theravada in S.America
|
304,125
|
35%
|
Total Theravada in Australia & Oceania
|
216,563
|
35%
|
Total Theravada in Africa
|
68,093
|
35%
|
TOTAL THERAVADA IN THE WORLD
|
247,887,891
|
15%
|
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane - Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka
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