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 total population of the Middle East. Many of these Buddhists are workers who have migrated from Asia to the Middle East since the late 1990s, many from countries that have large Buddhist populations, such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. A small number of engineers, company directors, and managers from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea have also moved to the Middle East.

Demographics

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 and Qatar, the workers from Sri Lanka were allowed to celebrate Vesak in those Islamic countries.

Saudi Arabia

The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2007 estimates that more than 8 million foreigners are living and working in Saudi Arabia, including Muslims and non-Muslims.
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.
Thus approximately 1.5% of Saudi Arabia's population – or around 400,000 people – are Buddhist, likely giving Saudi Arabia the largest Buddhist community in either the Middle East or the Arab World

Population by country

CountryPopulation % of BuddhistsBuddhist total
222,201
45,361
100,222
414,016
30,000
32,049
6,426
3,926
71,159
285,194,911925,360