The number of Catholics is increasing in the world: there are 1 billion and 345 million

Foto: Comunicación Salesiana - Uruguay

Compared to 2018, there are 16 million more Catholics. The figure emerges from the Pontifical Yearbook 2021 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2019

The number of Catholics thus rose to one billion and 345 million, equal to 17.7% of the world population.
The geographical analysis shows an increase of:
3.4% in Africa;
1.3% in Asia;
1.1% in Oceania;
0.84% in America.
On the contrary, in Europe there has been a slight decline.

The number of priests is growing; in total there are 414,336, 271 more priests. However, priestly vocations are decreasing, with a decline of 1.6%.
Permanent deacons increase by 1.5%.

Complete statistics are available on Vatican News

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