Religion by Country
Religion in South Korea: Statistics & Demographics
A society where most people report no religion — yet also the most Protestant country in Asia, with strong Buddhist and Catholic communities.
Quick answer
A majority of South Koreans report no religious affiliation. Among those who do affiliate, Protestant Christianity (about 20%) is the largest, followed by Buddhism (about 16%) and Catholicism (about 8%). The share with no religion has risen over time and is highest among the young. Confucian ethics and ancestral rites remain widespread across all groups.
- Largest group
- No religion — 56.1% (2015 census)
- Largest religion
- Protestantism — 19.7%
- Other major faiths
- Buddhism 15.5% · Catholicism 7.9%
- Data source
- Statistics Korea (KOSTAT)
- Reference year
- 2015 national census (last to ask religion)
Religion in South Korea at a glance
South Korea is unusual among developed nations: a majority of its people report no religious affiliation, yet it is also the most Protestant country in Asia. Among those who do affiliate, Protestant Christianity, Buddhism and Catholicism are the three major traditions. The headline figures below are from the 2015 national census — the last to ask about religion.
| Year | No religion |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 49% |
| 2005 | 46% |
| 2015 | 56% |
More recent surveys point to continued secularisation: a 2021 Gallup Korea poll found around 60% with no religion, 17% Protestant, 16% Buddhist and 6% Catholic.
The main religions
Protestant Christianity (about 20%) grew explosively in the 20th century and anchors a large network of megachurches. Buddhism (about 16%) is the oldest organised tradition, historically dominant and still strong in the southeast. Catholicism (about 8%) is comparatively small but respected, and has grown steadily in recent decades. Underlying all of this, Confucian ethics and ancestral rites remain widely practised even by people who claim no religion.
A country split by region and generation
Religion in Korea maps onto geography: the northwest around Seoul leans Christian, while the southeast around Busan leans Buddhist. It also splits by age — younger Koreans are far more likely than their elders to report no religion, which is driving the long-term rise of the unaffiliated.
A short history
Buddhism arrived in the 4th century and shaped Korean culture for over a millennium. Catholicism entered in the late 18th century and Protestantism in the late 19th, both growing fastest during the social upheavals of the mid-20th century. Since around 2000, both Buddhism and Christianity have lost ground to the religiously unaffiliated.
Belief and society
South Korea shows that a wealthy, highly educated society can be both strongly Christian in parts and majority-unaffiliated overall. For a very different East Asian pattern, compare religion in Japan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main religion in South Korea?
Most South Koreans report no religion. Among those who affiliate, Protestant Christianity is the largest group, followed by Buddhism and Catholicism.
What percentage of South Korea has no religion?
At the 2015 census, 56.1% of South Koreans reported no religious affiliation, and more recent surveys put the figure around 60%.
Is South Korea a Christian country?
Christianity (Protestant and Catholic combined) is the largest religious bloc among those who affiliate, and South Korea is the most Protestant country in Asia — but a majority of the population overall claims no religion.
Do Koreans practise Confucianism?
Formal Confucian affiliation is tiny, but Confucian ethics and ancestral memorial rites are widely observed across religious and non-religious Koreans alike.
Sources & methodology
South Korea's official religion figures come from the decennial population census; 2015 was the most recent to include a religion question. Because the question is not asked every cycle, more recent estimates rely on surveys such as Gallup Korea, which use different methods and are not directly comparable to census counts.
- Statistics Korea (KOSTAT), 2015 Population and Housing Census — religion.
- Gallup Korea, religious affiliation survey (2021).