Religion in Samoa

Apia Cathedral

Christianity is the official and largest religion in Samoa, with its various denominations accounting for around 98% of the total population.[1] The article 1 of the Constitution of Samoa states that "Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".[2]

The following is a distribution of Christian groups as of 2021 (the most recent census available): Congregational Christian (27 percent), Roman Catholic (18 percent), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (17.6 percent), Methodist (11.8 percent), Assemblies of God (10.1 percent) and Seventh-day Adventist (4.9 percent).[3] Groups together constituting less than 5 percent of the population include Baháʼí, Jehovah's Witnesses, Congregational Church of Jesus, Nazarene, nondenominational Protestant, Baptist, Worship Centre, Peace Chapel, Samoa Evangelism, Elim Church, and Anglican. A comparison of the 2006 and 2011 censuses shows a slight decline in the membership of major denominations and an increase in participation in nontraditional and evangelical groups.

Although there is no official estimate, there are reportedly small numbers of Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and traditional believers, primarily in Apia. The country has one of the world's eight Baháʼí Houses of Worship.

There is a small Muslim community and one mosque.[4][5] The history of Islam in Samoa dates back to before 1985, when Samoa had a number of Muslim workers who were working either for the government or for a United Nations program, but their number was small and hardly affected the local population. In the mid-1980s, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth began operating in the Pacific, and consequently some Samoans began converting to Islam. According to the 2001 census, the number of Samoan Muslims was 48, or 0.03% of the total population. This number has increased to 61 Muslims, or 0.04% of the population, according to the 2006 census.

The number of Samoans who reported as non religious at the 2021 census was only 132, or 0.06% of the population.[3]

  1. ^ "2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Samoa". US Department of State. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  2. ^ Wyeth, Grant (16 June 2017). "Samoa Officially Becomes a Christian State". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b "2021 Census" (PDF). Samoa Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  4. ^ "The World Factbook; U.S. Central Intelligence Agency; last updated 27 March 2014."
  5. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2012: Samoa; United States Department of State, Human Rights and Labor" (Retrieved 19 June 2017). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.