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The religiously unaffiliated are the largest group in Hong Kong, accounting for 61% of the population according to 2023 survey data.¹ An additional 20% identify as Christian, 14% as Buddhist, 1% as Daoist, and 3% follow other religions, including Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism.¹ Disaffiliation is a widespread trend in Hong Kong, with 37% of individuals reporting they were raised in a religion but are now unaffiliated with any religion.¹ Younger adults aged 18 to 34 are more likely to be religiously unaffiliated (74%) compared to 57% of those aged 35 and older.¹

People residing in Hong Kong tend to have more religious freedom than their neighbours in China. Proselytising is widely accepted in the territory, with 67% of respondents stating it is acceptable.¹ However, religious groups reported facing greater pressure to self-censor speech or actions deemed to be politically sensitive or critical of the Chinese government.²

Religious Affiliation and Observance

In a 2023 survey of Hong Kong residents, 56% said religion is not important in their lives, while only 11% considered it very important.¹ However, many people who don’t prioritise religion still engage in a variety of religious practices and hold spiritual beliefs – including the unaffiliated. For instance, 69% of adults expressed belief in unseen beings such as deities, spirits, angels, or demons.¹ Beliefs in fate and/or karma are widespread (76%), with 54% of adults believing in rebirth and 48% in nirvana.¹

Many people visit temples, pagodas, shrines, churches or monasteries, and some keep altars in their homes for purposes such as venerating ancestors. Praying or offering respect to religious figures or deities is also fairly common. For example, around 30% of adults pray or offer respects to Guanyin, a deity associated with compassion, or to Buddha.¹ Among the unaffiliated, 22% pray or offer respects to Guanyin, 15% to Buddha, 11% to Mazu, and 9% to Guandi.¹ However, only 13% of adults pray daily.¹

Buddhism

For many in Hong Kong, Buddhism is viewed not only as a religion but also as a set of ethical teachings and cultural practices.¹ Buddhist religious observance often includes respect for deities or spirits, belief in the afterlife, reverence for elders, honouring the places where they live and abstaining from alcohol as part of their everyday life. Most Buddhists also make offerings to or worship religious figures, such as Buddha or Guanyin (a folk deity associated with compassion).

Christianity

Approximately one-third (36%) of Christian adults in Hong Kong identify as born-again or evangelical.¹ Almost all Christians report praying or offering respects to Jesus, with 6% attending religious services at least once a week.¹

Christian education has had a significant cultural influence in Hong Kong, with around half of adults having attended a school affiliated with a Catholic or other Christian church.¹ This trend likely reflects the expansion of church-run public schools since the 1960s. Government statistics from 2022 show that about half of Hong Kong’s primary school students attend Christian-affiliated institutions.

Traditional Chinese Philosophies

It should be noted that some Chinese Hong Kongers practice traditional Asian philosophies such as Confucianism, but these are not always considered to be ‘religions’ (as defined in surveys). They are more commonly perceived as a way of viewing life that can coexist with other religions—such as Buddhism. Many people (including those who identify as non-religious) have some affiliation or understanding of traditional Asian philosophies, as the tenets and values of these belief systems still strongly influence social behaviours and practices.

Confucianism

Confucianism is a guiding philosophy that emphasises the importance of healthy human relationships. It promotes the idea that relationships between people are unequal and everyone should have defined hierarchical roles (for example, ruler and subject, husband and wife, father and son). It teaches that when this natural inequality is accepted and respected, it becomes easier to maintain harmonious, stable relations between individuals and, therefore, in society as a whole.

Taoism

Taoism is a religion of cultivation and can be confusing to understand as ‘the Tao’ itself is indescribable and left to one's interpretation. It is associated with pantheism, the belief that everything composing reality is divine. Essentially, Taoism is the perception of the universe as a reality in which everything in existence is connected. It emphasises a deep connection between nature and self-development.

The Taoist concept most familiar to Westerners is that of Yin and Yang, which holds that the world is full of opposites, unified in how they complement one another (e.g. light and dark, high and low, etc.). There are no gods in Taoism, but it is a logic that can be polytheistic and, therefore, allows the gods of other religions to intertwine. Many spirits (different from gods) are worshipped, representing mountains, rivers, or even gates and cooking stoves. Some important historical figures are believed to have become spirits in their afterlives (e.g. Guan Yu). Common Taoist practices are meditation, fortune telling, Feng Shui, Tai Chi and the reading and chanting of scriptures. Today, however, Tai Chi can be associated with a form of exercise rather than a religious practice.