Religion growing in importance for S'poreans: Study

Religion has become a more important part of Singaporeans' identity in recent years, according to an Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) report released on Aug 20.

- Goh Yan Han

At the same time, the way people here are practising their religion has evolved to become more personal, with a greater emphasis on meditation and consuming religious media, and less on attending religious gatherings.

In its latest report, which was focused on religious identity and practice among Singaporeans, IPS found that more than three-quarters of Singaporeans agreed that their ideas about religion or spirituality were one of the most important parts of their lives, and that these ideas have considerable influence over their views in other matters.

Respondents were asked eight questions about religion and spirituality, such as whether their spiritual beliefs gave meaning to life's joys and sorrows, across three surveys done in 2013, 2018 and 2024.

In general, a growing majority of people agreed to all the statements that religion had influence over their lives across the three surveys.

The largest increase was for the statement that life would be meaningless without a sense of spirituality. More than six in 10 respondents agreed with this in 2024, compared with half of the respondents in 2018.

While nationality was consistently ranked as the most important part of Singaporeans' identity across the three surveys, researchers noted that the importance of religion rose considerably over time among those who professed to have a religion – about 80 per cent of the respondents declared they had one.

The latest report used data gathered between April and August 2024 from a representative sample of 4,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 18 and above, who were asked some 350 questions on race, religion and language.