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Singaporeans are relatively spiritual people. A survey conducted by Gallup Poll showed that 70% see religion to be particularly important to their daily lives.

Singapore differs from the other countries surveyed in that it has no majority religion, and thus no single religion that is clearly associated with Singaporean national identity.

Singapore by some measures is the world’s most religiously diverse society. According to the most recent census, 31% of Singaporean adults identify as Buddhist, 20% are religiously unaffiliated (i.e., they say they have no religion), 19% are Christian and 15% are Muslim. The remaining 15% of the population includes Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists and people who follow Chinese traditional religions, among others.¹

Most Singaporeans (56%) say that having people of many different religions, ethnic groups and cultures makes their country a better place to live, while few Singaporeans (4%) say it makes their country a worse place to live.¹

Given this diversity, many people pray or offer their respects to deities or founder figures that are not traditionally considered part of their religion’s pantheon. For example, 66% of Singaporean Hindus say they pray or offer respects to Jesus Christ, while nearly one-in-five Singaporean Buddhists (18%) say they pray or offer their respects to Allah.¹

A survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2022 found that 36% of adults say religion is very important in their lives. However, the vast majority of adults surveyed (87%) say they believe in God or unseen beings, and about 70%say they think karma and fate exist. These beliefs are common across all the countries in the survey, as is The notion that spells, curses or other magic can influence people’s lives is also common, held by roughly half (55%) of adults.¹

People ages 35 and older are more likely than younger adults to say religion is very important in their lives.¹

According to the national census, the religious makeup of Singapore today is markedly different from 40 years ago.10 Alongside rapid economic growth, the religiously unaffiliated have increased from 13% to 20% of the adult population. However, this period has also seen Christians roughly double as a share of the national population, from 10% in 1980 to 19% in 2020.

After increasing between 1980 and 2000 (from 27% to 43%), Singapore’s Buddhist population has since decreased to 1990 levels (31%).

Meanwhile, the share of Singapore’s adults who identify with Chinese traditional beliefs (including Taoism) decreased from 30% in 1980 to roughly one-in-ten in 2000 and generally has held steady since then.

Since 1980, the percentages of Singaporeans identifying as Muslim, Hindu and other religions have remained fairly steady.¹

The 2020 Census showed that 31.1% of Singaporeans (aged 15 years and over) are Buddhist, 18.9% are Christian, 15.9% are Muslim, 8.8% are Daoist, 5.0% are Hindu, and 0.6% identify with a different religion.² Additionally, 20.0% of all Singaporeans did not affiliate with a religion.²

Religious orientations in Singapore largely correlate with people’s ethnicities. Most Malays are Muslim, Indians are generally Hindu (though some are Muslim, Christian or Sikh) and Chinese Singaporeans are largely Buddhist, Taoist or Christian. Some Singaporeans (mostly Chinese Singaporeans) consider themselves affiliated with more than one faith, as Confucianism and Taoism can coincide with other world religions (such as Buddhism).

The younger generations of Singapore tend to blend the older traditions of their religions into more contemporary practices to realistically suit the modern world.