| Religion | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddhism | 27.0 | 31.2 | 42.5 | 33.3 |
| Christianity | 10.1 | 12.7 | 14.6 | 18.3 |
| No religion | 13.0 | 14.1 | 14.8 | 17.0 |
| Islam | 15.7 | 15.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 |
| Taoism/Chinese traditional beliefs | 30.0 | 22.4 | 8.5 | 10.9 |
| Hinduism | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 5.1 |
| Other religions | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
Singapore generally allows religious freedom, although some religious sects are restricted or banned, such as Jehovah's Witness, due to its opposition of National Service. The majority of Malays are Muslim, the plurality of Chinese practise Buddhism and syncretic Chinese folk traditions. Christianity is growing among the Chinese, having overtaken Taoism as second most important religion among this ethnic group. Indians are mostly Hindus though many others are Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians. People who practice no religion form the third largest group in Singapore.
Religions of the main ethnic groups (2000):
Source: Census 2000.
Read more about this topic: Singaporean People
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“Culture’s essential service to a religion is to destroy intellectual idolatry, the recurrent tendency in religion to replace the object of its worship with its present understanding and forms of approach to that object.”
—Northrop Frye (b. 1912)
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