Democratizing access to the best data on religion since 1997
WORLD RELIGION
WORLD RELIGION

National Profiles

Add a Nation:



Add a Region:



Scroll to Profile Section:


Search National Profiles


National / Regional Profiles

Included Nations/Regions: South Africa [x], Southern Africa [x], The World [x]


Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1

Religion Indexes (South Africa)

State Funding of Religion
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 161/253
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 53/253
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 174/253
State Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 145/253
For details on how these indexes were constructed, click here

South Africa: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2

The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Buddhists, Chinese folk-religionists, Confucianists, Jains, Jews, New religionists, Sikhs, Spiritists.


South Africa: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2

The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Atheists, doubly-affiliated, Mahayanists, Orthodox, Saktists, Shias, Vaishnavites.


Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2

Religion South Africa
[x]
Southern Africa
[x]
The World
[x]
Baha'is 0.48% 0.50% 0.11%
Buddhists 0.42% 0.37% 6.83%
--Mahayanists 0.42% 0.37% 4.89%
--Theravadins --- --- 1.72%
--Lamaists --- --- 0.23%
Chinese folk-religionists 0.19% 0.16% 5.98%
Christians 81.81% 82.17% 32.16%
--unaffiliated Christians 12.30% 12.11% 1.46%
--Orthodox 0.05% 0.04% 3.75%
--Catholics 6.49% 8.43% 15.90%
--Protestants 22.27% 23.98% 7.51%
--Independents 41.01% 38.89% 5.00%
Daoists --- --- 0.11%
Confucianists 0.06% 0.05% 0.11%
Ethnic religionists 7.10% 7.84% 3.65%
Hindus 2.38% 2.10% 13.58%
--Vaishnavites 0.79% 0.69% 5.15%
--Shaivites 1.02% 0.90% 4.86%
--Saktists 0.58% 0.51% 3.57%
Jains 0.00% 0.00% 0.08%
Jews 0.11% 0.10% 0.19%
Muslims 1.72% 1.55% 24.20%
--Sunnis 1.70% 1.53% 21.56%
--Shias 0.03% 0.03% 2.44%
--Islamic schismatics --- --- 0.21%
New religionists 0.04% 0.03% 0.85%
Shintoists --- --- 0.04%
Sikhs 0.02% 0.02% 0.34%
Spiritists 0.00% 0.00% 0.19%
Zoroastrians --- --- 0.00%
Non-Religious 5.66% 5.09% 11.57%
--Agnostics 5.39% 4.85% 9.65%
--Atheists 0.28% 0.24% 1.92%

Religious demographics (South Africa)3

The country has an area of 470,693 square miles and a population of 47.9 million. The 2001 religious demography census estimated that 80 percent of the population is Christian. Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and adherents of traditional African beliefs constitute 4 percent of the population. Approximately 15 percent of the population indicated that it belongs to no particular religion or declined to indicate an affiliation.

African Independent Churches (AICs) are the largest group of Christian churches. Once regarded as Ethiopian churches, the majority are now referred to as Zionist or Apostolic churches. There are more than 4,000 AICs, with a membership of more than 10 million, constituting approximately 20 percent of the population. The Zionist Christian Church is the largest AIC, with an estimated membership of more than four million. AICs serve more than half the population in northern KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga areas. There are at least 900 AICs are in Soweto.

Other Christian groups include Protestants (Dutch Reformed family of Churches, Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian) and the Roman Catholic Church. Greek Orthodox, the Church of Scientology, and Seventh-day Adventist churches are also active.

African traditionalists make up less than 1 percent of the population. Practitioners include traditional healers, often referred to as witches, although they do not see themselves as such. Many of the African traditionalists combine Christian and indigenous religious practices, and 15 percent of the population claims no affiliation with any formal religious organization. It is believed that many of these persons adhere to indigenous religions.

An estimated two-thirds of South Africa's Indian population, a majority of which resides in KwaZulu-Natal, practice Hinduism. The small Muslim community is mostly made up of Cape Malays of Indonesian descent, and the remainder is largely of Indian extraction.

Summary Information

South Africa
[x]
Southern Africa
[x]
The World
[x]
Region Southern Africa The World --
Total Population4 52,797,022 60,635,054 7,335,774,068
Area in square miles 470,693 1,031,985 196,939,900
Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 61.9 60.4 71.9
Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 12,860.0 10,232.0 16,101.0
Description of Polity Score6 (strongly democratic) -- --
Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 2.0 1.1 0.8
Official Religion(s)8 Christianity -- --

South Africa - Google Map


Religion and the State

Religion and State Collection (2014)

South Africa
[x]
Is proselytizing Legal?1 Yes
Is religious registration someties denied?1 There is no registration requirement
What are the consequences of registration?1 There is no registration requirement
Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 Accommodation
The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 Optional, or there is a choice between a religion and a non-religion course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world.
The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 The government does not fund religion.
The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 There are no religious requirements or oaths necessary in order to hold office.

Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]

Constitution

South Africa
[x]
Constitution Year10 1996
Last Amended10 2012
Source10 Constitute Project
Translation10 Original was written in English.
Current as of10 August 26, 2018

Public Opinion (South Africa)

(Calculated by the ARDA from the World Values Survey)11
1990 1996 2001 2005 2013
Religious Affiliation/Identification
Percent belonging to a religious denomination. 91.2 89 86.1 --- 81.9
Percent identifying as a religious person. 83.3 80.2 78.9 81.3 80
Percent raised religious. 88.3 87.9 --- --- ---
Religious Behaviors
Percent attending religious services at least once a month. --- 69.7 68.4 69.3 73.2
Percent praying to God more than once per week. --- --- 76 --- 77
Percent that meditate or pray. 85.5 --- 89.2 85.2 ---
Percent attending religious services at least once a month when 12 years old. --- 58.4 --- 51.1 56.2
Religious Beliefs
Percent believing in God. 97.8 99 98.9 --- 98.2
Percent believing in heaven. 91 93.9 90.7 --- ---
Percent believing in hell. 51.7 63.7 60.5 --- 46.1
Percent believing in life after death. 78.2 78.9 72.8 --- ---
Percent believing that there are clear guidelines on good and evil. 51.5 60.8 62.7 --- ---
Percent believing that politicians who do not believe in God are unfit for public office. --- --- 50.7 47.8 ---
Percent believing that religious leaders should not influence people's vote. --- --- 64.6 64 ---
Percent believing that things would be better if there are more people with strong religious beliefs. --- --- 62 57.5 ---
Percent that think that religious faith is an important quality in children --- --- --- 56.2 44.3
Percent that agree: We depend too much on science and not enough on faith --- --- --- 69.7 57.9
Percent believing church gives answers to people's spiritual needs. --- --- 82.5 86.2 ---
Percent that do not trust people of other religions --- --- --- 36.6 43.4
Percent believing church gives answers on family life problems. --- --- 73.1 75.6 ---
Percent believing churches give answers to moral problems. --- --- 69.1 75 ---
Percent that often think about meaning and purpose of life --- --- --- 51.6 34
Percent believing churches give answers to social problems. --- --- 62.2 58 ---
Percent believing that religious leaders should influence the government. --- --- 24.7 55.6 ---
Percent believing that people have a soul. 91.4 93.6 93.7 --- ---
Percent believing in the concept of sin. 69.4 79.3 --- --- ---
Percent believing religious services are important for deaths. 86.1 --- --- --- ---
Percent believing religious services are important for births. 77.5 --- --- --- ---
Percent believing religious services are important for marriages. 93 --- --- --- ---
Percent believing in a personal God. 42.8 --- --- --- ---
Percent believing in telepathy. 51.4 78.4 --- --- ---
Percent believing in re-incarnation. --- --- --- --- 46
Percent believing in the devil's existence. --- --- --- --- 62.8
Percent that think that it is more important to follow religious norms and ceremonies than to do good for other people --- --- --- --- 83.9
Percent that think the meaning of religion is to make sense of life in this world --- --- --- --- 61.5
Percent that agree that whenever science and religion conflict, religion is always right --- --- --- --- 80.5
Percent that agree that the "only acceptable religion is my religion." --- --- --- --- 82
Percent that agree that all religions should be taught in public schools --- --- --- --- 51.8
Religious Experiences
Percent finding comfort and strength from religion. 89 92.9 89.1 --- ---
Attitudes
Percent considering religion important. 88.7 90.4 91.5 90.5 85.2
Percent considering that God is not at all important in their life. 1.6 0.8 0.4 0.4 0.9
Percent confident in religious organizations. 83 84.6 83.1 84.9 77.9
Politics
Percent thinking that churches have an influence on national politics. --- --- --- --- 54.6

Socio-Economic Measures

Military Measures

South Africa
[x]
Southern Africa
[x]
The World
[x]
Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 118 0.0069406 0.00149238 0.005162584
2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 1.2 1.4 --

Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society


Constitution Clauses Related to Religion


Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (South Africa)10

Preamble

...

May God protect our people.

... God bless South Africa.

...

Section 6. Languages.

...

(5) A Pan South African Language Board established by national legislation must---

...

(b) promote and ensure respect for---

...

(ii) Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit and other languages used for religious purposes in South Africa.

Section 9. Equality

...

With respect to unfair discrimination solely on the grounds of … religion …

(3) The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including ... religion, conscience, belief

...

...

Section 15. Freedom of religion, belief and opinion.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.

(2) Religious observances may be conducted at state or state-aided institutions, provided that---

(a) those observances follow rules made by the appropriate public authorities;

(b) they are conducted on an equitable basis; and

(c) attendance at them is free and voluntary.

(3) (a) This section does not prevent legislation recognising---

(i) marriages concluded under any tradition, or a system of religious ... law; or

(ii) systems of personal and family law under any tradition, or adhered to by persons professing a particular religion.

(b) Recognition in terms of paragraph (a) must be consistent with this section and the other provisions of the Constitution.

Section 16. Freedom of expression.

...

(2) The right in subsection (1) [outlining freedom of expression] does not extend to---

...

(c) advocacy of hatred that is based on ... religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.

Section 31. Cultural, religious and linguistic communities.

(1) Persons belonging to a ... religious ... community may not be denied the right, with other members of that community---

(a) to ... practise their religion ...; and

(b) to form, join and maintain ... religious ... associations and other organs of civil society.

(2) The rights in subsection (1) may not be exercised in a manner inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights.

Section 35. Arrested, detained and accused persons.

...

(2) Everyone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner, has the right---

...

(f) to communicate with, and be visited by, that person’s---

...

(iii) chosen religious counsellor ...

...

...

Section 37. States of emergency.

...

(5) No Act of Parliament that authorises a declaration of a state of emergency, and no legislation enacted or other action taken in consequence of a declaration, may permit or authorise---

...

(c) any derogation from a section mentioned in column 1 of the Table of Non-Derogable Rights, to the extent indicated opposite that section in column 3 of the Table.

Section 181. Establishment and governing principles.

(1) The following state institutions strengthen constitutional democracy in the Republic:

...

(c) The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.

...

...

Section 185. Functions of Commission [for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities].

(1) The primary objects of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities are---

(a) to promote respect for the rights of ... religious ... communities;

(b) to promote and develop peace, friendship, humanity, tolerance and national unity among ... religious ... communities, on the basis of equality, non-discrimination and free association; and

...

(2) The Commission has the power, as regulated by national legislation, necessary to achieve its primary objects, including the power to monitor, investigate, research, educate, lobby, advise and report on issues concerning the rights of ... religious ... communities.

...

Section 186. Composition of Commission.

(1) The number of members of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities and their appointment and terms of office must be prescribed by national legislation.

(2) The composition of the Commission must---

(a) be broadly representative of the main ... religious ... communities in South Africa; ...

...

Variable Details

  • For more details on State Funding of Religion (FUN_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions (SOC_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Regulation of Majority or All Religions (NXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Discrimination of Minority Religions (MXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • Sources

    1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.

    2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).

    3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.

    4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.

    5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.

    6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.

    7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.

    8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.

    9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are aware of any incorrect information provided on this page.

    11 The World Values Survey is a worldwide investigation of socio-cultural and political change. It is conducted by a network of social scientists at leading universities around the world. Interviews have been carried out with nationally representative samples of the publics of more than 80 societies. A total of four waves have been carried out since 1981. The ARDA has averaged the weighted responses across the waves for each country surveyed. The average responses for all countries have been placed in a single file and can be previewed and downloaded here. See the World Values Survey website for further information and to download the original survey data: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/.

    12 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    13 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.

    14 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.

    15 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    16 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    17 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    18 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.

    19 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.

    20 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.

    Our Sponsors

    Our Affiliates

    US RELIGION
    WORLD RELIGION
    DATA ARCHIVE
    RESEARCH
    TEACHING
    CONGREGATIONS
    ABOUT
    © 2024 The Association of Religion Data Archives. All rights reserved.