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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 Middle East total population. Many of these Buddhists are workers who have migrated from Asia to the Middle East since the late 1990s, many of them come from countries that have large Buddhist populations, such as China, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
Theravada Buddhism 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 (the United Arab Emirates)[1] and Qatar,[2] the workers from Sri Lanka were allowed to celebrate Vesak (the most important holiday in Buddhism) in those Islamic countries.
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Main article: Buddhism in Saudi Arabia |
It is estimated that there are 13.49 million foreign residents are living and working in Saudi Arabia.[3]
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. According to a 2020 report by the Association of Religion Data Archives, Buddhists make up about 0.33% of the Saudi population with comprehensive data on foreigners being unavailable.[4]
Buddhist percentages in the Middle East
| Country | Population (2022) | % of Buddhists | Buddhist total |
|---|---|---|---|
 United Arab Emirates
|
9,441,129 | 2.40%[7] | 210,000 |
 Qatar
|
2,695,122 | 3.80%[8] | 90,000 |
 Kuwait
|
4,268,873 | 5.40%[9] | 180,000 |
 Saudi Arabia
|
36,408,820 | .40%[10] | 130,000 |
 Bahrain
|
1,472,233 | 3.10%[11] | 50,000 |
 Oman
|
3,204,897 | .70%[12] | 20,000 |
 Israel
|
9,038,309 | .30%[13] | 20,000 |
 Lebanon
|
5,489,739 | .20%[14] | 10,000 |
 Turkey
|
85,341,241 | .09%[15] | 40,000 |
| Total | 157,360,363 | 1.82% | 750,000 |
