Buddhism in Estonia

Buddhism in Estonia is a small minority religion, held by about 0.2% of the population. However, between 2000 and 2021, the number of Buddhists in Estonia tripled.

History

The emergence of Buddhism in Estonia is attributed to the early 20th century and associated with the names of Karl Tõnisson and his disciple Friedrich Lustig. Tõnisson was appointed by the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet as the first Buddhist Archbishop of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. He died in 1962 in Thailand after which he was declared a bodhisattva.

Another important figure who contributed to the development of Estonian Buddhism was the scholar and religious philosopher Uku Masing. He wrote a book about Buddhism and became the founder of the Estonian Oriental Society. Under his influence, the Estonian buddhologist Linnart Mäll was formed. He translated many sacred texts into Estonian, because although Buddhism, like other religions, was not welcomed by the authorities during Soviet Estonia, scientific research in this field was allowed.

Statistics

According to Statistics Estonia, the Estonian government agency responsible for producing official statistics, in 2021, there were 1,880 Buddhists in Estonia (0.2%). Of these, 1,05 are male and 820 female. 1,280 are classified as city inhabitants, 100 as town inhabitants, and 500 as rural inhabitants.

Religious affiliations in Estonia, census 2000–2021*

Religion	2000		2011		2021
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Christianity	319,770	28.5	310,481	28.4	298,410	26.8
Islam	1,387	0.1	1,508	0.1	5,800	0.5
Estonian Neopaganism	1,058	0.1	2,972	0.3	5,630	0.5
Buddhism	622	0.1	1,145	0.1	1,880	0.2
Other religions**	4,995	0.4	4,727	0.4	9,630	0.9
No religion	450,458	40.2	592,588	54.1	650,900	58.4
Not stated***	343,292	30.6	181,104	16.5	141,780	12.7
Total population*	1,121,582		1,094,564		1,114,030
*The censuses of Estonia count the religious affiliations of the population older than 15 years of age. **Mostly other modern Paganisms, with a smaller number of other Eastern religions and Theosophical movements. ***Comprises the categories "cannot define", "refuse to answer" and "religious affiliation unknown".

See also

• Hinduism in Estonia
• Buddhism in Lithuania
• Buddhism in Finland
• Demographics of Estonia
• Religion in Estonia
• Irreligion in Estonia
• Jaan Kaplinski