Release Date :
Reference Number :
2017-010
As diverse as the Mindanao Island Group can be, the same is true for the religions embraced by its populace. The island
registered a total population of 24,135,775 as of the 2015 Census of Population.
![](/sites/default/files/default%20images/Religion%20in%20Mindanao.jpg)
Roman Catholic and Islam are the two religions most widely spread across Mindanao. These two denominations together cover the religious affiliation of more than half of the islands’ population.
Around 57 percent of its citizens claim membership in the Roman Catholic Church and about 23.4 percent declared Islam as their religious preference.
![](/sites/default/files/default%20images/Religion%20in%20Mindanao2.jpg)
Among the six regions in Mindanao, Roman Catholic is the dominant belief except in ARMM. Davao Region has the highest proportion of Roman Catholics (26.50%), followed by Northern Mindanao (24.71%), Zamboanga Peninsula (17.10%), SOCCSKSARGEN (16.86%), and Caraga (13.39%).
Islam is the widespread religion in ARMM with 91% of the regions’ residents practicing its dogma. It is notable that only 139,032 people in Caraga Region were registered to adhere to such credo.
Other religious affiliations (e.g. Seventh Day Adventists, Bible Baptist Church, Tribal Religions, etc) together comprise approximately 3.03 million, or 12.56 percent of Mindanao’s population.
Other religions in the list are Evangelicals comprising 5.19% of Mindanao’s population, and Iglesia ni Cristo at 1.70%.
Persons who did not designate a religious preference account for 0.16 percent of the population in Mindanao with the highest percentage in ARMM at 0.46 percent of the region’s population.