section_path: Demographics/Religion
section_name: Religion
paragraph_text: Religion
  
  Although the Philippines is a secular state with freedom of religion, an overwhelming majority of Filipinos consider religion very important and irreligion is very low. Christianity is the dominant religion, followed by about 89 percent of the population. The country had the world's third-largest Roman Catholic population as of 2013, and was Asia's largest Christian nation. Census data from 2020 found that 78.8 percent of the population professed Roman Catholicism; other Christian denominations include Iglesia ni Cristo, the Philippine Independent Church, and Seventh-day Adventistism. Protestants made up about 5% to 7% of the population in 2010. The Philippines sends many Christian missionaries around the world, and is a training center for foreign priests and nuns.
  
  Islam is the country's second-largest religion, with 6.4 percent of the population in the 2020 census. Most Muslims live in Mindanao and nearby islands, and most adhere to the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam.
  
  About 0.2 percent of the population follow indigenous religions, whose practices and folk beliefs are often syncretized with Christianity and Islam. Buddhism is practiced by about 0.04% of the population, primarily by Filipinos of Chinese descent.