figures, approximately 60.4 percent of the population practised Islam; 19.2 percent Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; 6.3 percent Hinduism; and 2.6 percent practise Confucianism, Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions. The remainder was accounted for by other faiths, including animism, folk religion, and Sikhism while 0.9% either reported having no religion or did not provide any information.The separate religious communities have a generally tolerant relationship.
The majority of Malaysian Indians follow Hinduism (84.5%), with a significant minority identifying as Christians (7.7%), Muslims (3.8%), over 150,000 Sikhs, and 1,000 Jains. There are also a large number of Sikhs and Bahá'ís found in the country. There are around 100,000 Sikhs mainly Punjabis in Malaysia. Whereas, there are around 50,000 Baha'is of various races in Malaysia.
Most Malaysian Chinese follow a combination of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor-worship but, when pressed to specify their religion, will identify themselves as Buddhists and will list themselves as such for bureaucratic purposes. Statistics from the 2000 Census indicate that 75.9% of Malaysia's ethnic Chinese identify as Buddhist, with significant numbers of adherents following Taoism (10.6%) and Christianity (9.6%), along with small Hui-Muslim populations in areas like Penang.
Christianity is the predominant religion of the non-Malay Bumiputra community (50.1%) with an additional 36.3% identifying as Muslims and 7.3% follow folk religion.The indigenous tribes of East Malaysia have mostly converted to Christianity.In addition to Christian missionaries from overseas, there are ongoing efforts by the government and NGOs to convert the animist communities to Islam, especially amongst the peninsular tribes who are not entitled to bumiputra status.
Holidays have been declared for holy days in numerous religions. Similarly, festivals are held for all major religions, which are participated in by those from all races.
Whether a religion obtains approval of the government is determined by the Registrar of Societies, part of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The government promotes interfaith dialogue, but believes the constitution provides a strong enough guarantee of religious freedom and should not be changed. Some restrictions are made on Malay texts from non islamic religions in Peninsula Malaysia, however there are much less restrictions in East Malaysia. Headscarves are mandatory for nonmuslims in certain situations.
