Albert here. In 2014, a Pew Research study on global religious diversity ranked Taiwan as the second most religiously diverse country in the world, just behind Singapore. Taiwan’s religious landscape is unique, blending Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, indigenous religions, and various popular beliefs. This diversity is notable, but what is perhaps even more striking is the ubiquity of religious and spiritual beliefs across Taiwanese society. In July of this year, Pew released an update to its 2014 study, which found that even among Taiwanese who report no religious affiliation, there is a significantly higher likelihood of holding “spiritual” beliefs compared to the rest of East Asia. For example, 87% of Taiwanese believe in karma—significantly higher than South Korea's 48%. Since karma is rooted in Buddhism, it’s unsurprising that 96% of Taiwanese Buddhists believe in it—but it’s notable that a significant portion of Taiwanese Christians (64%) also believe in karma.
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