Advertisement

Vatican Statistics

Young men attending the encounter with youth with Pope Francis at the Sir John Guise Stadium, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 9, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Worldwide Catholic Population Hits 1.4 billion

Mar 27, 2025

Two reports prepared by the Vatican’s Central Office for Church Statistics reveal a notable growth of the Catholic population worldwide during the two-year period 2022-2023.

Pope Francis arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Jan. 31, 2023. The streets of the pope’s five-mile drive from the N’Dolo Airport to the presidential residence were lined with thousands of locals who cheered and waved flags. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican Statistics: Africa Had Biggest Increase in Catholics, While Numbers Fell in Europe

Oct 24, 2023

Catholics in the world numbered 1,375,852,000 people at the end of 2021, with an overall increase of 16.2 million compared with the previous year. 

Catholics attend Mass in Ho, Ghana. James Dalrymple via Shutterstock.

Number of Catholics in Africa, Asia Continues to Rise, Newly Released Statistics Indicate

Oct 21, 2021

The Catholic Church grew by 15 million people worldwide in 2019.

St. Peter’s Basilica seen through a bubble on Dec. 3, 2019. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

World Mission Sunday: Number of Catholics Continues to Rise Worldwide

Oct 16, 2020

The number of Catholics worldwide increased by almost 16 million in a year to 1.33 billion, according to statistics highlighted by the Vatican ahead of the 2020 World Mission Sunday.