Religion in Suriname

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Religion in Suriname is characterized by a range of religious beliefs and practices due to its ethnic diversity. The government is vocally supportive of religious diversity and tolerance, and these attitudes are present in general society as well. According to the most recent census (2012), 48.4 percent of the population is Christian (the largest groups being Pentecostalism, the Moravian Church, and the Catholic Church) 22.3 percent is Hindu, 13.9 percent is Muslim, 1.8 percent follows Winti, and 0.8 percent is Kejawen. In addition 2.1 percent of the population follows other faiths (including Jehovah's Witnesses), 7.5 percent are atheist or agnostic, and 3.2 percent did not answer the question about their religion.^[1] Later estimates suggest that Christians made up just over half the population in 2020.^[2]

Indigenous religions are practiced by the Amerindian and Afro-descendant Maroon populations. Amerindians, found principally in the interior and to a lesser extent in coastal areas, practice shamanism, worship of all living things, and their rites are led by medicine men, or piaiman. Maroons, who inhabit the interior, worship nature through a practice that has no special name, and they also worship their ancestors through a rite called Winti. Citizens of Amerindian and Maroon origin who classify themselves as Christian often simultaneously follow indigenous religious customs, with the acknowledgment of their Christian church leaders.

The negligible Jewish community numbers 181,^[1] and there are also small numbers of Baháʼís and Buddhists. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) claimed 1,797 members in six congregations in 2022.^[3] Other groups include the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the World Islamic Call Society. At the start of the 21st century, Guido Robles, a prominent Jewish businessman in Paramaribo, quipped, "No religion in Suriname has any problem with any other religion, all the problems are caused by the politicians."^[4]

In 2017, many political parties, including six of the eight governing coalition parties, had strong ethnic ties, and members tended to adhere to or practice one faith. For example, within the governing coalition, the majority of members of the mostly ethnic-National Party of Suriname (NPS) were Protestant, most members of the mostly ethnic-Indian Progressive Reform Party were Hindu, and those of the mostly ethnic-Javanese Pertjaja Luhur Party tended to be Muslim.^[5] However, parties had no requirement that political party leaders or members adhere to a particular religion.