Buddhism in the Middle East

It is estimated that in the Middle East, over 900,000 people profess Buddhism as their religion. Buddhist adherents make up just over 0.3% of the Middle East total population. Many of these Buddhists are workers who have migrated from other parts of Asia to the Middle East since the late 1990s, many of them come from countries that have large Buddhist populations, such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

Demographics

Theravada Buddhism is the predominant religion of workers from Thailand and Sri Lanka. Mahayana Buddhism is the predominant religion of workers from East Asia and Vietnam, although Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto are also represented among these people. In Dubai (the United Arab Emirates)^[1] and Qatar,^[2] the workers from Sri Lanka were allowed to celebrate Vesak (the most important holiday in Buddhism) in those Islamic countries.

Saudi Arabia

It is estimated that there are 13.49 million foreign residents living and working in Saudi Arabia.^[3]

In addition to 400,000 Sri Lankans, there are a few thousand Buddhist workers from East Asia, the majority of whom are Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai. A number of Tibetan-Nepalese immigrants may also be among the foreign population of Saudi Arabia. According to a 2020 report by the Association of Religion Data Archives, Buddhists make up about 0.33% of the Saudi population with comprehensive data on foreigners being unavailable.^[4]

Qatar

In 2020, Buddhism was represented by between 1.8-3.8% of the population of Qatar,^[5]^[6] mainly comprising migrant workers from South-East Asia and East Asia especially from China, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

Population by country

Buddhist percentages in the Middle East

Saudi Arabia (45.9%)

United Arab Emirates (24.6%)

Kuwait (11.1%)

Turkey (7.9%)

Qatar (5%)

Oman (3.6%)

Bahrain (0.8%)

Israel (0.7%)

Lebanon (0.4%)

**Buddhism by country in the Middle East**
Country	Population (2022)	% of Buddhists	Buddhist total
United Arab Emirates	9,441,129	2.40%^[7]	210,000
Qatar	2,695,122	3.80%^[8]	90,000
Kuwait	4,268,873	5.40%^[9]	180,000
Saudi Arabia	36,408,820	.40%^[10]	130,000
Bahrain	1,472,233	3.10%^[11]	50,000
Oman	3,204,897	.70%^[12]	20,000
Israel	9,038,309	.30%^[13]	20,000
Lebanon	5,489,739	.20%^[14]	10,000
Turkey	85,341,241	.09%^[15]	40,000
Total	157,360,363	1.82%	750,000

External links

Buddhist pagodas or temples in Middle East

References

^ "Lankans in Dubai to celebrate 'Vesak'", Emirates 24/7, 2011-05-05, archived from the original on 2021-06-11, retrieved 2013-07-22
^ "Sri Lankans celebrate Vesak in Qatar", THE PENINSULA, 2009-05-09, archived from the original on 2021-02-27, retrieved 2013-07-22
^ "Saudi Arabia (KSA) Population Statistics [2022 Updated] | GMI". Official GMI Blog. 2022-04-20. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "National / Regional Profiles, Included Nations/Regions: Saudi Arabia [x], Western Asia [x], The World [x]". Association of Religion Data Archives. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
^ US State Dept 2022 report
^ The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-28
^ "International Religious Freedom Report: United Arab Emirates". Archived from the original on 2021-01-10. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
^ "Buddhist Countries 2022". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2022-12-12.