National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Brunei [x], South-Eastern Asia [x], The World [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Brunei)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 13/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 91/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 16/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 8/253 |
Brunei: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Hindus, New religionists, Sikhs.
Brunei: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Atheists, Lamaists, Saktists, Shaivites, Shias, unaffiliated Christians, Vaishnavites.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Brunei [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 0.05% | 0.16% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 9.66% | 25.69% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | 7.19% | 8.51% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | 2.40% | 17.18% | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | 0.08% | 0.00% | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | 5.25% | 1.91% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 11.89% | 22.86% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 0.32% | 0.47% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | --- | 0.00% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 4.57% | 15.30% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 2.99% | 4.98% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 4.00% | 4.13% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | 0.00% | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | 1.88% | 0.16% | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 10.07% | 4.69% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 0.85% | 1.18% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 0.29% | 0.18% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 0.35% | 0.93% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.21% | 0.06% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | 0.00% | 0.08% |
| Jews | --- | 0.00% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 58.89% | 37.18% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 58.76% | 37.17% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | 0.13% | 0.01% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | --- | 0.00% | 0.21% |
| New religionists | 0.02% | 2.29% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | 0.00% | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | 0.26% | 0.03% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | --- | --- | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 1.18% | 3.85% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 1.15% | 2.82% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.03% | 1.04% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Brunei)3
The country has an area of 2,200 square miles and a population of 380,000. According to official statistics, the population includes 185,803 Muslims, 17,989 Buddhists, 6,618 Christians, 694 Roman Catholics, 230 Hindus, 72 Baha'is, 34 atheists, 40 Taoists, 33 Sikhs, 30 Jews, and 5 Nasrani, as well as 63 individuals of other faiths and 14,794 who did not state their faith. The Government categorizes Catholics as distinct from other Christians. There is also an indigenous population that adheres to traditional beliefs, although they often convert either to Islam or Christianity.
Summary Information |
Brunei [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | South-Eastern Asia | The World | -- |
| Total Population4 | 427,504 | 635,514,843 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 2,226 | 1,735,335 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 77.1 | 72.1 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | -- | 20,515.0 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | -- | -- | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | -- | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Shafii School, Sunni Islam | -- | -- |
Brunei - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Brunei [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | No |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | Registration is required but sometimes denied |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | Groups are officially required to register, and the government enforces this and discriminates against unregistered groups. |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Religious State 2 |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Mandatory for all; the course must be in religion. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes to only one religion, no other religions receive funds. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | Some government officials (other than head of state church and the like) must meet some form of religious requirements to hold office. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Brunei [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | yes [ Article 3(1) ] |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Article 3(1) ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | no |
Constitution |
Brunei [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 1959 |
| Last Amended10 | 2006 |
| Source10 | Constitute Project |
| Translation10 | Source is an English translation, edited by ARDA staff. |
| Current as of10 | November 7, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Brunei [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 96.0 | 92.7 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | -- | -- | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 84.8 | -- | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Brunei [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 11.4 | 2,555.3 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 4,302.3 | 1,319,718.9 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 5,650.1 | 1,460,524.9 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 69.8 | 62.8 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | -- | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | -- | 20,515.0 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Brunei [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.0001601 | 0.004733518 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | 2.4 | 1.3 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Brunei [x] |
South-Eastern Asia [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 427,504 | 635,514,843 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 77.1 | 72.1 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | 1.8 | -1,073.2 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 77.5 | 48.2 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 8.5 | 22.0 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | -- | -- | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Brunei)10
Article 2. Interpretation.
In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires—
…
• "Chief Syar’ie Judge" means the Chief Syar’ie Judge appointed under the Syariah Courts Act (Chapter 184);
…
• "Islamic Religion" means the Islamic Religion according to the Shafeite sect of Ahlis Sunnah Waljamaah;
…
• "Mufti Kerajaan" means the person appointed as such by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan under the Religious Council and Kadis Courts Act (Chapter 77);
• "Muslim revenue and funds" means all revenues and funds to which Part IV of the Religious Council and Kadis Courts Act (Chapter 77) applies;
…
• "Religious Council" means the Religious Council constituted by Part II of the Religious Council and Kadis Courts Act (Chapter 77);
…
Article 3. Official religion of Brunei Darussalam and religious observance.
(1) The official religion of Brunei Darussalam shall be the Islamic Religion:
Provided that all other religions may be practised in peace and harmony by the persons professing them.
(2) The Head of the official religion of Brunei Darussalam shall be His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan.
(3) The Religious Council shall be the authority responsible for advising His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan on all matters relating to the Islamic Religion.
(4) For the purpose of this Article, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan may, after consultation with the Religious Council, but not necessarily in accordance with the advice of that Council, make laws in respect of matters relating to the Islamic Religion.
Article 4. Executive authority and principal officers.
…
(5) The appointment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall be made from among the Malay race professing the Islamic Religion, save where His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan otherwise decides.
…
Article 5. Establishment of Privy Council.
(2) The Privy Council, the Members of which shall be styled Privy Councillors, shall consist of—
…
(c) ex-officio Members, namely the … Mufti Kerajaan, Chief Syar’ie Judge … [among others]
…
Article 8A. Establishment of Pardons Board.
(1) For the purposes of this Part, there shall be established a Pardons Board which shall consist of … the Mufti Kerajaan … [among others]
…
(5) Before tendering its advice on any matter, the Pardons Board shall consider any written opinion which may have been delivered thereon … by the Mufti Kerajaan on any aspect of Islamic law.
Article 30. Disqualification for Members [of the Legislative Council].
No person shall be qualified to be a Member of the Legislative Council who—
…
(e) is a murtad [apostate from Islam] in accordance with the Hukum Syara’ …
…
Article 42. Description of Bills, motions and petitions not to proceed without approval.
(1) Except with the prior approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, a Member of the Legislative Council shall not introduce or propose, and the Legislative Council shall not proceed upon, any Bill, any amendment to any Bill, or any motion, petition or business which, in the opinion of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, falls within any of the following classes—
…
(e) any Bill, motion, petition or business that may have the effect of lowering or adversely affect directly or indirectly the standing or prominence of the National Philosophy of Melayu Islam Beraja (known in English as Malay Islamic Monarchy);
…
Article 53. Privileges of Members of Legislative Council.
…
(1A) No Member of the Legislative Council shall speak or make any comments—
(a) directly or indirectly derogatory of … the National Philosophy of Malay Islamic Monarchy …
…
Article 69. Exclusion of Muslim revenues and funds.
The provisions of this Part [on Finance] shall not be applicable to Muslim revenues and funds.
Article 81. Attorney General and his functions.
…
(3) The Attorney General shall have power exercisable at his discretion to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence other than—
(a) proceedings before a Syariah Court, subject to the provisions of any written law to the contrary …
…
…
Article 84A. Appointment to specified offices.
(1) No person shall be appointed to any office specified in the Third Schedule unless he is a citizen … professing the Islamic Religion.
…
Article 86. Interpretation Tribunal.
…
(7) The Interpretation Tribunal shall consist of 3 members—
…
(c) one member who shall be a person from any country who professes the Islamic Religion who holds or has held office in Islamic law or is an expert in Islamic law and jurisprudence.
…
SECOND SCHEDULE: Provisions relating to Legislative Council (Article 24(1)).
1. Composition and Membership of the Legislative Council.
The Legislative Council shall consist of not more than 45 Members as follows—
a. …
(iv) persons who, in His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan’s opinion, have achieved distinction in the field of religion … [among others]
…
THIRD SCHEDULE: List of specified offices (Article 84A(1)).
…
Chief Syar’ie Judge
Mufti Kerajaan
…
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
