National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Vietnam [x], The World [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Vietnam)
|
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: 91/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 2/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 26/253 |
Vietnam: 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, Daoists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Shintoists.
Vietnam: 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: doubly-affiliated, Independents, Saktists, Shaivites, Sunnis, unaffiliated Christians, Vaishnavites.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Vietnam [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.44% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 48.63% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | 47.14% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | 1.48% | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | 1.00% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 9.17% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.02% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | --- | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 7.42% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 1.63% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 0.54% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | 0.00% | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 10.74% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 0.06% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 0.00% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 0.03% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.03% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.00% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 0.18% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 0.18% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | --- | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | --- | 0.21% |
| New religionists | 10.97% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | 0.00% | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | --- | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 18.81% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 12.41% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 6.40% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Vietnam)3
The country has an area of 127,000 square miles and a population of 83.5 million. Some estimates suggest that more than half of the population is at least nominally Buddhist. The Roman Catholic Church comprises 8 to 10 percent, several Cao Dai organizations comprise 1.5 to 3 percent, the primary Hoa Hao organization 1.5 to 4 percent, Protestant denominations 0.5 to 2 percent, and one Muslim organization less than 0.1 percent of the population. Most other citizens consider themselves nonreligious, although many practice traditional beliefs such as veneration of ancestors and national heroes.
Many Buddhists practice an amalgam of Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism that is sometimes called the "triple religion." The Government Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) cited an estimate of 10 million (12 percent of the population) practicing Mahayana Buddhists, most of whom are members of the ethnic Kinh majority and found throughout the country, especially in the populous areas of the northern and southern delta regions. There are proportionately fewer Buddhists in certain highland areas, although migration of Kinh to these areas is changing this distribution. A Khmer ethnic minority in southern Vietnam practices Theravada Buddhism. Numbering more than 1 million, they live almost exclusively in the Mekong Delta. In 1981 the officially sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) was established. The Government does not recognize the legitimacy of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).
There are an estimated 8 million Catholics in the country, although government statistics place the number at 5.9 million. Catholics live throughout the country, but the largest concentrations remain in the southern provinces around Ho Chi Minh City, in parts of the Central Highlands, and in the provinces southeast of Hanoi. Catholicism has revived in many areas in recent years, with newly rebuilt or renovated churches and growing numbers of people who want to be religious workers.
Government statistics put the number of Cao Dai at 2.3 million, although Cao Dai officials routinely claim as many as 5 million adherents. Cao Dai groups are most active in Tay Ninh Province, where the Cao Dai "Holy See" is located, in Ho Chi Minh City, and throughout the Mekong Delta. There are many separate groups within the Cao Dai religion; the largest is the Tay Ninh sect, which represents more than half of all Cao Dai believers. Cao Dai is syncretistic, combining elements of many faiths.
According to the Government, there are 1.2 million Hoa Hao followers; affiliated expatriate groups estimate that there may be up to 3 million adherents. Hoa Hao followers are concentrated in the Mekong Delta, particularly in provinces such as An Giang and Dong Thap, where the Hoa Hao were dominant as a social, political, and military force before 1975. The government-recognized Hoa Hao Administrative Committee (HHAC) was organized in 1999. Some Hoa Hao belong to other sects that oppose the HHAC.
The two largest officially recognized Protestant churches are the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV or ECVN-S) and the smaller Evangelical Church of Vietnam North (ECVN). The Grace Baptist Church and the United World Mission are also officially recognized. A growing number of other Protestant denominations are also present, including the Vietnam Mennonite Church, the Vietnam Presbyterian Church, and the Vietnam Seventh-day Adventist Church (all officially registered), as well as others yet to be registered. Estimates of the number of Protestants ranged from government figures of 610,000 to claims by churches of more than 1.6 million. There were estimates that the growth of Protestant believers has been as much as 600 percent over the past decade. Some new converts belong to unregistered evangelical house churches. Based on adherents' estimates, two-thirds of Protestants are members of ethnic minorities, including minority groups in the Nor
Summary Information |
Vietnam [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | -- |
| Total Population4 | 93,596,977 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 127,881 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 75.9 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 6,050.0 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | (autocratic) | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | -0.5 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | None | -- |
Vietnam - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Vietnam [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | Yes |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | Registration is required but sometimes denied |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups are officially required to register, and the government enforces this and discriminates against unregistered groups. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | State Controlled Religion, Negative Attitude |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | None |
| 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]
Features of Constitution |
Vietnam [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | not stated |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Article 24(1-2) ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | yes [ Article 24(1) ] |
Constitution |
Vietnam [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 1992 |
| Last Amended10 | 2013 |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation. |
| Current as of10 | November 4, 2018 |
Public Opinion (Vietnam)(Calculated by the ARDA from the World Values Survey)11 |
2001 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|
| Religious Affiliation/Identification | ||
| Percent belonging to a religious denomination. | 53.7 | --- |
| Percent identifying as a religious person. | 38.4 | 39.2 |
| Religious Behaviors | ||
| Percent attending religious services at least once a month. | 12.8 | 15.7 |
| Percent praying to God more than once per week. | 9 | --- |
| Percent that meditate or pray. | 29.7 | 27.9 |
| Percent attending religious services at least once a month when 12 years old. | --- | 6 |
| Religious Beliefs | ||
| Percent believing in God. | 18.8 | --- |
| Percent believing in heaven. | 16.4 | --- |
| Percent believing in hell. | 17.1 | --- |
| Percent believing in life after death. | 15.8 | --- |
| Percent believing that there are clear guidelines on good and evil. | 58.3 | --- |
| Percent believing that politicians who do not believe in God are unfit for public office. | 19 | 18.2 |
| Percent believing that religious leaders should not influence people's vote. | 68.6 | 61 |
| Percent believing that things would be better if there are more people with strong religious beliefs. | 29.7 | 24.9 |
| Percent that think that religious faith is an important quality in children | --- | 6.1 |
| Percent that agree: We depend too much on science and not enough on faith | --- | 42.6 |
| Percent believing church gives answers to people's spiritual needs. | 60.5 | 76.3 |
| Percent that do not trust people of other religions | --- | 72.1 |
| Percent believing church gives answers on family life problems. | 30.5 | 40.1 |
| Percent believing churches give answers to moral problems. | 45.2 | 53.7 |
| Percent that often think about meaning and purpose of life | --- | 58.1 |
| Percent believing churches give answers to social problems. | 18 | 61.4 |
| Percent believing that religious leaders should influence the government. | 16.7 | 63.7 |
| Percent believing that people have a soul. | 38.2 | --- |
| Religious Experiences | ||
| Percent finding comfort and strength from religion. | 27.2 | --- |
| Attitudes | ||
| Percent considering religion important. | 33.6 | 32.7 |
| Percent considering that God is not at all important in their life. | 28.9 | 24.5 |
| Percent confident in religious organizations. | 22.7 | 54.4 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Vietnam [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population13 | 94.5 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 98.0 | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | -- | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Vietnam [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 205.3 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars14 | 180,269.0 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars14 | 188,882.0 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max15 | 52.4 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index16 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)17 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 6,050.0 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Vietnam [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 118 | 0.0088437 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | 2.2 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Vietnam [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 93,596,977 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 75.9 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | -200.0 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population14 | 34.2 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage14 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman14 | 2.0 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births14 | 17.3 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV14 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Vietnam)10
Article 9.
(1) The Vietnam Fatherland Front is a political alliance and a voluntary union of political organizations, sociopolitical organizations, social organizations and individuals representing their ... religions ... [among other things]
...
Article 24.
(1) Every one shall enjoy freedom of belief and of religion; he can follow any religion or follow none. All religions are equal before the law.
(2) The State respects and protects freedom of belief and of religion.
(3) No one has the right to infringe on the freedom of belief and religion or to take advantage of belief and religion to violate the laws.
Article 70.
The National Assembly has the following duties and powers:
...
(5) To decide on the State’s ... policies on religions;
...
Variable Details
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
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.
