Religion Statistics in the People's Republic of China

(According to an unidentified member of the State Council's Bureau of Religious Affairs,
published in Beijing Review, Sept. 1-7, 1997)


Total population > 1,200,000,000
"People claiming belief in religion" > 100,000,000 (8.33% of total pop.)
Clergymen  300,000
"Religious venues"  85,000
   
Buddhism
Monks and nuns (excluding Tibetan)  200,000 (.016%)
Buddhist temples ( " " )  13,000
Tibetan lamas and nuns  120,000 (.010%)
"Living Buddhas" (tulku, or incarnate lamas)  1,700
Tibetan monasteries  3,000
   
Taoism
Priests and nuns  25,000 (.002%)
Temples  1,500(1)
Provincial Taoist Associations  15
Other Taoist Associations (above county level)  108
 
Islam
Believers  18,000,000 (1.500%)
Imams 40,000
Mosques  30,000
Pilgrims to Mecca in recent years  45,000
   
Catholicism
Believers  4,000,000 (.333%)
Clergy and churches  4,000
   
Protestantism
Believers  10,000,000(2) (.833%)
Ministers and missionaries  18,000
Churches  12,000
Other meeting places 25,000


1. Or 4,105 according to another article in the same issue of Beijing Review.

2. 700,000 in 1949.