Quick answer: Which religions are common in Vietnam?

In Vietnam, ancestor worship is deeply rooted in daily life, and people also practice Buddhism, Catholicism, Cao Dai, and other faiths. In the workplace, do not decide accommodations based on nationality alone. Confirm meals, worship, and days off with each person—this leads to a smoother, more realistic onboarding experience.

Religion in Vietnam is highly diverse. Levels of devotion and daily customs vary by individual, but there is a long-standing tendency to value traditional practices and good omens. When you see words or actions rooted in faith, it is important to respect them as much as possible.

Religions that make up the majority in Vietnam

Religion in Vietnam is often grouped into three categories—Mahayana Buddhism, Catholicism, and minority religions—and multiple traditions tend to overlap.

Mahayana Buddhism, practiced by the majority Kinh people

Vietnam is a multiethnic country with 54 ethnic groups, and the majority are the Kinh people. The Kinh practice Mahayana Buddhism. About 80% of the population is said to follow Mahayana Buddhism. Even so, funerals and memorial rites are commonly conducted in a Confucian style, and many people also visit Taoist temples—so the way faith is practiced can be described as uniquely Vietnamese.

Catholicism, which spread during French rule

Catholic Christianity spread across Vietnam during the French colonial period. After the Vietnam War, when strict socialism was in place, Catholicism—a remnant of the former ruling power—was practiced quietly. Openness policies such as Doi Moi also helped more people practice their faith openly. Today, about 10% of Vietnam’s population is said to be Catholic.

Diverse religions among ethnic minorities

Within Vietnam, the south is especially religiously diverse. Many Khmer people practice Theravada Buddhism under the influence of Thailand and Myanmar, while many Cham people practice Hinduism or Islam. Ethnic minorities living in the northern mountain areas have their own religions centered on spirit worship. In the central region, where the former Champa kingdom converted in the past, Muslim communities are also noticeable.

A uniquely Vietnamese faith: the Kitchen Gods

Vietnamese people often act in ways rooted in faith, and one foundation of that is the “Kitchen Gods.”

“Kitchen Gods’ Day,” which comes before Tet

In Vietnam, people celebrate Tet, the Lunar New Year. About a week before New Year’s Day, there is a custom of cleaning the house and preparing offerings. The reason is that the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is “Kitchen Gods’ Day.” The Kitchen Gods are said to be one goddess and two gods, a folk belief rooted in long-standing Vietnamese legend.

The story of the Kitchen Gods

The Kitchen Gods come from a tale involving three people: Thi Nhi (a woman), Trong Cao (a man), and Pham Lang (a man). Thi Nhi and Trong Cao were a married couple who loved each other deeply, but they separated because they could not have children. Regretting what he had done, Trong Cao set out on a journey to find his wife.

When his food and money ran out, he was reunited with Thi Nhi, who had become Pham Lang’s wife. While Thi Nhi was giving her former husband a meal, Pham Lang came home. In a panic, the former husband hid in the stove. Unaware of this, Pham Lang lit the fire, and the former husband burned to death. Trying to save him, Thi Nhi also burned to death, and Pham Lang burned to death trying to save his wife.

How the Kitchen Gods are honored

Moved by their self-sacrificing acts, the Jade Emperor named the three the “Kitchen Gods” and gave them the role of reporting each household’s good and bad deeds to heaven over the year. From this arose the custom of carefully cleaning the kitchen and preparing offerings to welcome the gods. Offerings include sticky rice, salt, boiled meat, dumpling soup, stir-fried dishes, ham, glutinous rice, fruit, lotus tea, pomelo, and more. People also offer flowers such as peach blossoms and fake bundles of cash.

Some Vietnamese people avoid meat for religious reasons

To strictly follow religious teachings, a certain number of Vietnamese people eat no meat at all, or avoid meat only on specific days.

Religions of vegan Vietnamese people

Some Vietnamese Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Cao Dai followers treat meat-eating as taboo. Cao Dai is a relatively new religion that flourished in Tay Ninh Province, northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. It is an unusual “all-inclusive” faith that draws on Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, and Taoism, and even venerates great figures from around the world.

Vegan restaurants found across Vietnam

In Vietnam, more people are also becoming vegan out of concern about hygiene and pollution, in addition to religious reasons. As a result, restaurants serving vegan dishes made with soybeans, tofu, and mushrooms instead of meat have spread nationwide. It is also common to see ordinary cafes offering vegan buffets only at lunchtime.

What if a Vietnamese colleague is vegan?

In Vietnam, lighter “vegans” who are not fully plant-based often abstain from meat on the 1st, 14th, 15th, and 30th days of the lunar month—about four meat-free days a month. After those days pass, there is a custom of thoroughly enjoying meals that include meat as a way of ending the period of abstinence. If you invite someone out for a meal or drinks after work, it helps to aim for a time after the meat-free days have passed.

Vietnam's religious makeup in the statistics, and how it differs by region

The point to watch when you put numbers on religion in Vietnam is that the census counts only people who declare a religion. In the 2019 census by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (total population 96,208,984), 13,162,879 people declared a religion — just 13.68% of the total. Catholics are the largest group at 5,866,169 (6.10%), followed by Buddhists at 4,606,543 (4.79%), Hoa Hao at 983,079 (1.02%), Protestants at 960,558 (1.00%), Cao Dai at 556,234 (0.58%) and Muslims at 70,934 (0.07%) (source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2019 Population and Housing Census; confirmed 6 September 2026).

The remaining 86.32% are statistically “no religion,” but it is wrong to read that as “no faith and no observances.” Being “non-religious” in Vietnam is not the same as atheism: ancestor veneration (thờ cúng tổ tiên) is deeply rooted as a national custom. On the 1st and 15th of each lunar month people offer incense at a Buddhist or ancestral altar, and on death anniversaries the family gathers for a meal. These practices never show up in the statistics, yet they bear directly on leave requests, meal accommodations and emotional support — which makes them more important in hiring practice than whatever is written in the “religion” field.

Another point that is easily missed is how much the religious background changes with the region a person comes from. The north (around Hanoi and Thanh Hoa) is mainly Buddhist and non-religious; the centre (around Da Nang and Hue) is especially Buddhist, and Hue is called the centre of Vietnamese Buddhism; the south (around Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta) has higher shares of Catholicism, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao. Simply recording the home province (tỉnh) on the hiring form makes it far easier to design accommodations after the person joins.

The annual calendar of observances and its impact on the workplace

Almost all religious observances in Vietnam move with the lunar calendar, so an annual plan built on the Japanese calendar alone drifts every year. If HR keeps a lunar calendar and identifies, during the previous year, which observances fall in the busy season, you can avoid a last-minute pile-up of paid-leave requests.

Tet (Lunar New Year) has by far the largest impact. It is the most important event of the year for Vietnamese staff, and requests to return home and take extended leave concentrate around it. Fixing shifts and home-leave plans by the end of the previous year keeps disruption on the floor to a minimum.

  • Tet (Lunar New Year, around the 1st day of the lunar first month, roughly January–February): the most important observance. Paid-leave requests and home-leave wishes concentrate here, so shift adjustment by the end of the previous year is essential
  • The 1st and 15th of the lunar month (twice a month): vegetarian days for Buddhists and folk-belief practitioners. Offering a vegetarian option in the company or dormitory cafeteria is highly effective
  • Vesak (Buddha's Birthday / Phật Đản, 15th day of the lunar fourth month, roughly May–June): requests to leave early or arrive late in order to visit a temple may arise
  • Vu Lan (Ullambana / Lễ Vu Lan, 15th day of the lunar seventh month, roughly August–September): the day for welcoming ancestral spirits. Early-leave requests may arise to prepare incense and offerings
  • Mid-Autumn Festival (Tết Trung Thu, 15th day of the lunar eighth month, roughly September–October): more staff with children will want to return home
  • Christmas (25 December): a religious holiday for Catholics. Watch for requests to attend midnight Mass
  • Kitchen Gods' Day (Táo Quân, 23rd day of the lunar twelfth month): the point at which Tet preparations begin in earnest. It often coincides with requests to bring home leave forward
  • Death anniversary (Giỗ): the anniversary of a family member's death. Expect roughly one to two days of paid leave a year

A practical checklist for before and after acceptance, and the questions that come up most

Accommodating religion is not about building a special scheme; most of it is solved by redesigning your existing leave rules and catering arrangements a little. The checklist below runs by phase, from before hiring through to retention follow-up.

  • Before hiring: confirm the home province and any religious or customary accommodations the person would like, making clear that answering is optional
  • Before hiring: have the person share whether and when they want to return home for Tet, at the point the offer is made
  • Onboarding orientation: explain the paid-leave application rules and deadlines, and how the busy season is handled, in their own language or a language they understand
  • Onboarding orientation: state concretely what the company or dormitory cafeteria can accommodate, such as which days a vegetarian menu is served
  • Year-round operations: share the lunar-calendar observance calendar between HR and floor managers, and resolve overlaps with the busy season during the previous year
  • Year-round operations: build a vegetarian menu into the meal plan two to three times a month (tofu, stir-fried vegetables, soups made without animal stock, and the like)
  • Retention follow-up: make sure managers treat one-off leave requests for death anniversaries and family observances as a cultural circumstance, not as poor attendance

May we ask about religion in a hiring interview?

You may not use faith itself as a factor in the hiring decision. What you may confirm is which accommodations the person would like in relation to working conditions. Keep the questions tied to an operational need — “Is there anything you avoid in meals?”, “Are there days in the year you always need off?” — and state clearly that answering is optional. Asking again at the acceptance-preparation stage after the offer usually makes it easier for the person to answer.

A staff member skips the company cafeteria twice a month. Is something wrong?

It is very likely to be the vegetarian days on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, and in most cases the person is simply avoiding meat, fish and eggs. Many find it hard to explain and quietly bring their own lunch instead, so deciding on — and posting — the days a vegetarian menu is served is usually enough to resolve it. No special ingredients are needed; a menu built on tofu and vegetables covers it.

Tet home-leave requests clash with our busy season. How should we handle it?

Tet is the most important event of the year, equivalent to New Year in Japan, and offering an alternative at the last minute rarely wins acceptance. The realistic approach is to collect home-leave requests by the autumn of the previous year and, where several people want the same period, to work out rotation or staggered dates together with them. Being able to show that everyone can go home at least once every few years has a large effect on retention.

Can we assume that all Vietnamese people are Buddhist?

No. In the 2019 census, people who declared Buddhism were 4.79% of the total population, and on a declared basis Catholics (6.10%) outnumber them. At the same time, the large majority recorded as “non-religious” still keep the custom of ancestor veneration. Because the religious background varies by region of origin, do not assume “they are Buddhist” across the board — confirming with the individual is the reliable route.

Summary

Religion among Vietnamese people is woven into everyday life and is a mixed blend of many traditions. For that reason, conflicts arising from differences in faith seem rare. If your company is going to hire Vietnamese talent, asking in advance about any religious considerations will help you welcome them smoothly.

About the author

Hikosuke
After working at a university for 10 years, he joined a local company in Vietnam, supporting regional small and medium-sized enterprises in expanding their sales channels. He has experience guiding international students at the university and local staff in Vietnam, and has also been involved in Japanese-language education. He currently works as a writer.

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Related hiring and workplace consideration guides

Frequently asked questions about religion in Vietnam

What is the most common religion in Vietnam? Mahayana Buddhism, which about 80% of the population is said to practice. That said, funerals and memorial rites are commonly Confucian in style, and visits to Taoist temples and ancestor worship are also woven into daily life—a distinctly Vietnamese approach to faith. How many Christians are there in Vietnam? Catholicism, which spread during French rule, is said to account for about 10% of the population. In addition, especially in the south, diverse religions coexist, including Cao Dai, Islam, Hinduism, and the spirit beliefs of ethnic minorities. Are there religious points to watch when dining with Vietnamese people? Some people avoid meat for religious reasons, and others abstain from meat only on the 1st, 14th, 15th, and 30th days of the lunar month. When inviting someone to a meal, casually confirm what they cannot eat and which dates work—this helps everyone enjoy the occasion without strain. What is the religious breakdown in Vietnam? Mahayana Buddhism, practiced by the majority Kinh people, is about 80%, and Catholicism, which spread during French rule, is about 10%, with minority religions making up the rest. Because multiple faiths often overlap in Vietnam, treat these figures only as a rough guide. What kinds of religions are there in Vietnam? Mahayana Buddhism and Catholicism are the two major forces. In the south, many Khmer people practice Theravada Buddhism, many Cham people practice Hinduism or Islam, and ethnic minorities in the northern mountains follow their own spirit-worship traditions. There is also Cao Dai, which thrives in Tay Ninh Province northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. On top of these, ancestor worship and the folk belief in the Kitchen Gods are rooted in everyday life.

Where to go next on Vietnamese hiring

The religion-and-workplace accommodations that used to sit in a separate article are now covered in the sections above. To carry the same understanding into the wider cultural side of hiring — interviews, placement and day-to-day communication — see Cultural differences to know when hiring Vietnamese workers.

For those considering hiring international talent

As a Registered Support Organization, YourBright provides international talent placement services centered on the Specified Skilled Worker program. You can read feedback from accepting companies in our case studies, and find materials useful for acceptance preparation on our downloads page.