Christianity remains the most common religion among Asian Americans despite an overall decline in the number of people following religions, says the latest Pew survey.
“Despite recent declines, Christianity is still the most common religion among Asian Americans,” said the survey report released by Pew Research Center on Oct. 11.
According to the report, around 34 percent of Asian American adults identified their religion as Christianity in 2023, down from 42 percent in 2012.
Among the respondents who said they were Christians, around 17% were Catholics and 16% were Protestants. One-tenth of Asian Americans were Buddhists and Hindus, while Muslims were reported at six percent.
Other Asian religious groups including Daoists, Jains, Jews, and Sikhs together made up around four percent of all Asian American adults. Six Asian origin groups–Chinese, Filipino, Indi-an, Japanese, Korean, and Viet-namese Americans – made up around 81% of the roughly 7,000 Asian Americans surveyed.
The survey also looked at the various largest subgroups within Christianity, both Protestants and Catholics. The result showed an overall decline in numbers in 2023, compared to the previous survey conducted in 2012.
For example, Protestants had declined to 16 % in 2023 from 22 % in 2012. The Evangelicals who were included within the Protestant subgroup also showed a decline to 10 percent from 13 percent for the same period.
“The Catholic share is more stable,” the report said.
Followers of Catholicism were reported to have declined from 19 % in 2012 to 17 % in 2023.
The survey also analyzed how Asian Americans identify themselves as “close” to Christianity despite being non-adherent to any specific religion.
“Many who do not identify with a specific religion still say they consider themselves close to the religious or philosophical traditions that are common in their country of ancestry,” the report said.
Around 18% of Asian Americans, while not identifying as Christians, said that they feel “close to” Christianity “aside from religion” for reasons such as family background or culture.
In total, 40 % of Asian American adults express a connection to one or more groups that they do not claim a religious identity.