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Summary
- The Vatican counted just over 1.422 billion Catholics at the end of 2024, up 1.14 percent from about 1.406 billion in 2023, or 17.8 percent of the world’s population.
- Africa grew fastest, from just over 281 million to over 288 million Catholics, and now has more Catholics than Europe (20.3 percent of the total against 20.1 percent).
- Europe’s Catholic population rose only 0.8 percent in 2024, and its number of priests fell; 307,117 people formally left the Catholic Church in Germany in 2025.
- Africa was the only continent where seminarians increased in 2024; worldwide they fell 2.72 percent.
- In the United States, 19 to 20 percent of adults are Catholic, stable since 2014 but down from 24 percent in 2007; 8.4 people have left for every convert.
- U.S. parishes fell from 19,620 in 1990 to 16,125 in 2025, and priests from 59,192 in 1970 to 33,462.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- “New data of Annuario Pontificio 2026 shows Catholics growing in Africa,” Vatican News, 28 March 2026 (summary of the Annuario Pontificio 2026 and Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2024). https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2026-03/new-data-from-annuario-pontificio-2026-shows-catholics-growing.html
- “Catholic population remains stable at 17.8% of world population,” Catholic World News, 30 March 2026. https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=68923
- “Worldwide Catholic population hits 1.4 billion,” Catholic News Agency / EWTN News, 21 March 2025 (country figures for 2023). https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/worldwide-catholic-population-hits-14-billion
- Pew Research Center, “The Global Catholic Population,” 13 February 2013. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-population/
- Pew Research Center, “Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off,” 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study, 26 February 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/
- Pew Research Center, “10 facts about U.S. Catholics,” 4 March 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/04/10-facts-about-us-catholics/
- Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, “Frequently Requested Church Statistics” (U.S. data through 2025). https://cara.georgetown.edu/faqs
- “Katholische Kirche in Deutschland legt Zahlen für 2025 vor,” Vatican News, 16 March 2026 (German Bishops’ Conference statistics for 2025). https://www.vaticannews.va/de/kirche/news/2026-03/deutschland-dbk-katholische-kirche-statistik-zahlen-2025.html
- Istat, “Matrimoni, unioni civili, separazioni e divorzi – Anno 2024,” 19 January 2026. https://www.istat.it/comunicato-stampa/matrimoni-unioni-civili-separazioni-e-divorzi-anno-2024/
- Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 8 December 1975, nos. 14 and 41. https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19751208_evangelii-nuntiandi.html
- Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 24 November 2013, nos. 19 and 27. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html
- Scripture quotation from the English Standard Version: Matthew 28:19.
