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Buddhists around the world
The number of Buddhists around
the world is grossly underestimated. The statistics found in nearly all
encyclopedias and almanacs place the number of Buddhists at
approximately 500 million. This figure completely ignores over one
billion Chinese people who live in the People's Republic of China. China
is officially communist (although many free market conditions are
already in place) and does not keep records on religion statistics of
adherents. Also, many western reference sources refuse to accept that a
person can belong to more than one religion. In Asia it is quite common
for one person to have two, three, or more religions. In China, it is
common for a family to have a shrine in their home with statues and
icons from Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.
Currently there are about 1.3
billion Chinese living in the People's Republic. Surveys (Gach-Alpha
Books, U.S. State Dept. report on China, Global Center for the Study of
Contemporary China, BBC News, China Daily, and a report by Christian
missionaries in China) have found that about 8% to 91% identify with
Buddhism as one of their religions. If we use a percent near the upper
end of this estimate, of about 80% it works out to about 1.1 billion
Chinese Buddhists. To ignore over one billion people as if they do not
count is a terrible mis-count and very misleading in the reporting of
adherents. A Chinese Buddhist forum (bskk.com) currently has about
60,000 registered members and over 2 million posts, which is about
double the amount of the largest English language Buddhist forum (which
also has Chinese Buddhists participating in the discussions). But to be
fair, a more conservative estimate is also shown (see below).
Here are some studies that have analyzed or
counted the number of Buddhists in China and the percentage found in the
study:
U.S. State Dept. report Approx. 8% to 40% (the report lists 8% but
then states that there are "hundreds of millions" of Chinese who
practice various religions together, which includes Buddhism).
BBC News, 2007 Approx. 16% to 23%
Global Center for the Study of Contemporary China Approx. 23% to
98% (the report lists 23% but states that as many as 98% follow more
than one religion, which includes Buddhism).
The counting of Buddhists in America is also a
little problematic since the U.S. Census Bureau does not ask religious
affiliation. There are studies that suggest the percentage of Buddhists
in America is as low as 0.5% and others that suggest over 3%. Some of
the lower estimates claimed that about half of all Buddhists in America
are white, European ancestry, which shows that the study was flawed. Any
personal observation survey of Buddhism in America by attending
meditation groups and temples will demonstrate that the vast majority of
Buddhists in the U.S. are still predominantly Asian or Asian ancestry.
Immigration to the U.S. from Asia has been very high due to favorable
economic opportunities and more open immigration for those with
technical skills, such as in the medical fields. Immigration from Asia
ranges from about 0.5 million to 7 million per year and certainly a
sizeable percentage of these immigrants are Buddhist.
Some other reports at the low
end are going by official statistics from Buddhist organizations that
count and in many of these estimates it is based on counting only one
group, The Buddhist Churches of America (which is one of the few that
counts their members). The BCA is just one sect inside the Pure Land
school of Buddhism, which is a further sub-set of Mahayana, which is a
sub-set of Buddhism in general. As far back as 1995 a study showed that
1.6% of the U.S. is Buddhist. Only a few years later the number of
Buddhist centers doubled, which suggests that the actual percent of
Americans who are Buddhist is from 2% to 4%.
See: R. Baumann, Univ. of Hannover Professor C. Prebish, Ph.D. has
stated that 2% of the U.S. population is Buddhist and that most, about
80% of American Buddhists are of Asian descent (about 4.8 million out of
6 million American Buddhists),
See: Utah State Univ., 2007
A conservative estimate of 2% is used for the
number of Buddhists in America in the table below.
March 2007 update: Due to the debates and
discussions that have occured, some reference books and encyclopedias
are finally recognizing that there are Buddhists in China. Some have
stated that the survey suggesting that 91% are Buddhist is exaggerated,
but at least some are now showing a sizeable percentage, such as over
60% over at wikipedia. Therefore, included below is a liberal estimate
using 80% and a more conservative estimate using a 50% figure.
Here is the Wikipedia estimate, which is
compatible to the numbers shown here:
Wikipedia List of religious populations
July 2009 update: The
percentage and numbers for Buddhists in India has increased dramatically
over recent years because there have many recent mass conversions of the
dalit (untouchables) from Hinduism to Buddhism. See:
One of several mass conversions of over 50,000
and also this report:
Newsweek, March 2008 India now 3.25% Buddhist
See
also this article at The Dhamma
encyclopedia for more statistics, links
and sources:
The appeal of Buddhism
The following is the more
accurate listing of Buddhists around the world with the inclusion of the
above-mentioned people (percentage of the total population who are
Buddhist is shown in parentheses):
|
China, liberal estimate (80.00%) |
1,070,893,447 |
|
China, conservative estimate (50.00%)
|
669,308,405 |
|
Japan (96.00%) |
122,022,837 |
|
Thailand (95.00%) |
62,626,649 |
|
India (3.25%) |
37,913,134 |
|
Sri Lanka (70.00%) |
14,933,050 |
|
Other Asian countries (21.00%) |
280,209,398 |
|
Total Buddhists in Asia, liberal estimate
|
1,588,598,515 |
|
Total Buddhists in Asia, conservative
estimate |
1,187,013,473 |
|
|
|
|
USA (2.00%) |
6,135,071 |
|
Canada and N. Amer. islands (1.10%)
|
368,447 |
|
Total Buddhists in N. America |
6,503,518 |
|
|
|
|
Germany (1.10%) |
905,657 |
|
France (1.20%) |
773,215 |
|
United Kingdom (1.20%) |
733,395 |
|
Other European countries (0.15%) |
785,700 |
|
Total Buddhists in Europe |
3,197,966 |
|
|
|
|
Total Buddhists in Latin America and S.
America (0.15%) |
868,929 |
|
|
|
|
Total Buddhists in Australia and Oceania
(1.80%) |
618,752 |
|
|
|
|
Total Buddhists in Africa (0.02%)
|
194,550 |
|
_______________________________________________________
|
|
Total Buddhists in the world, liberal
estimate |
1,599,982,230
(about 1.6 billion) |
|
Total Buddhists in the world, conservative
estimate |
1,198,397,187
(about 1.2 billion) |
last updated: July 2009
See
also
Definition of a Buddhist by David N. Snyder, Ph.D.
The current number of Buddhists is therefore, about 1.2 to 1.6 billion
which places it nearly equal with each of the two largest religions of
Christianity and Islam. Even with the conservative estimate, it is still
much higher than the 300 to 500 million still being placed in many
references. It is important to know the true number to provide an
accurate history and to know that we are not “alone” in our thinking and
our practice. What we really strive for is not more Buddhists, but more
“buddhas” (enlightened ones) so that we can have true peace inside and
for the world.
[Source:
http://www.thedhamma.com/buddhists_in_the_world.htm
- 11/2009]
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