Buddhism is a small religion in Belgium but despite lack of official recognition by the Belgian government has grown rapidly in recent years. As of the 1997 estimate, 29,497 Belgian people identified their religion as Buddhist (about 0.29% of the total population). The government was first approached on 10 June 2005 to grant official recognition for Buddhism - a process which is expected to be completed in 2008. Independent sources now estimate the numbers of Buddhists in Belgium at 29,467.