For much of Vietnamese history, Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism have strongly influenced the religious and cultural life of the people. About 85 percent of Vietnamese identify with Buddhism even though they do not practice on a regular basis.About 8 percent of the population are Christians (about 6 million Roman Catholics and less than 1 million Protestants, census of 2007). Christianity was introduced first by the Portuguese and the Dutch traders in the 16th and 17th centuries, then further propagated under the French colonists in the 19th and 20th centuries, and to a lesser extent, by American Protestant missionaries during the presence of American forces during the 1960s and early 70's. The largest Protestant churches are the Evangelical Church of Vietnam and the MontagnardEvangelicalChurch.

Vietnam has great reservation towards Roman Catholicism. This mistrust originated during the French colonial time when some Catholics collaborated with the French colonists as espionage agents and militiamen to suppress the Vietnamese independence movement. Furthermore, the Church's teaching regarding communism made it an unwelcome counterforce to communist rule. Relationship with the Vatican, however, has improved in recent years. Membership of Sunni and Bashi Islam is usually accredited to the ethnic Cham minority, but there are also a few ethnic Vietnamese adherents of Islam in the southwest. The total number of Muslims remains very small nevertheless. The communist government has from time to time been criticized for its religious restrictions although it has categorically denied that such restrictions exist today.

The vast majority of Vietnamese people of Asian religions practice Ancestor Worship, although this may not be strictly considered a religion.

"Triple religion" (80 percent of people are worship the mixture of Mahayana Buddhism mainly, Taoism, Confucianism with Ancestor Worship; 2 percen Hoa Hao with 1 percent of some new Vietnamese-Buddhist sects as Tứ Ân Hiếu Nghĩa, Pure Land Buddhist, etc) and 2 percent Theravada Buddhism, mainly among Khmer people but the census of Government showed that only over 10 million people have taken refuge in the Three Jewels; 8 percent Christians (7 Percent Catholics and 1 percent Protestants); 3 percent Caodaism; 2.5 percent Tribal animism; less than 70 thousand Muslims; small Hindu communities (over 50 thousand people) and a small numbers of Baha'is.