The average for 2013 based on 84 countries was 43.2 percent. The highest value was in Poland: 95.2 percent and the lowest value was in Ethiopia: 0.6 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2013. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world, with an estimated Catholic population of 140 million, ahead of Mexico and the Philippines, with 101 million and 85 million Catholics, respectively. Nevertheless, Brazil's Catholic population is shrinking. By 2050, today's largest Catholic country could have a majority Protestant population.

Except for Uruguay, over 60 percent of the population in all the selected Latin American countries defined themselves as Catholics in 2000. However, by 2023, that was the case in only three countries: Mexico, Peru and Colombia. Over this 20-year period, Panama experienced the largest decrease in the share of Catholic believers, plummeting from 82.8 to 33.4 percent.

The average for 2013 based on 19 countries was 32.5 percent. The highest value was in Cape Verde: 87.8 percent and the lowest value was in Ethiopia: 0.6 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2013. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The average for 2013 based on 22 countries was 50.9 percent. The highest value was in Poland: 95.2 percent and the lowest value was in Bulgaria: 0.8 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2013. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The Peter's Pence collects offerings to the Pope made by Catholics worldwide. Money is then redistributed to promote the Church's mission, such as evangelization, help to those in need, and support of social projects. In 2023, almost a third of all donations came from the U.S., where American believers offered 13.6 million euros to the Pope.

aCatholic populations by country from http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/sc1.html[4].bOnly the top 31 Catholic countries with more than 5 million Catholics and countries in which at least 50% of the population is Catholic are included (as well as Canada and Uganda, each with more than 40% Catholic population), which excludes India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Vietnam.cFrom [6], [7].dFrom [8], [9].eFrom [10], [11].fChagas disease is found in every South American and Central American country listed [5].gFrom [31].

This statistic displays the percentage of adults who identified themselves as Catholic broken down by country in Latin America in 2014, based on the results of a survey conducted on Catholic affiliation in Latin America. In that year, more than 80 percent of Mexican respondents identified themselves as Catholic.

The average for 2013 based on 20 countries was 74.7 percent. The highest value was in Colombia: 94.1 percent and the lowest value was in Haiti: 44 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2013. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

NOTES:*Antarctica is included under the jurisdiction of the Christchurch, NZ diocese and therefore the Christchurch boundary and statistics are included in information about Antarctica.Global Diocesan Boundaries:Burhans, M., Bell, J., Burhans, D., Carmichael, R., Cheney, D., Deaton, M., Emge, T. Gerlt, B., Grayson, J., Herries, J., Keegan, H., Skinner, A., Smith, M., Sousa, C., Trubetskoy, S. “Diocesean Boundaries of the Catholic Church” [Feature Layer]. Scale not given. Version 1.2. Redlands, CA, USA: GoodLands Inc., Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2016.Using: ArcGIS. 10.4. Version 10.0. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2016.Boundary ProvenanceStatistics and Leadership DataCheney, D.M. “Catholic Hierarchy of the World” [Database]. Date Updated: August 2019. Catholic Hierarchy. Using: Paradox. Retrieved from Original Source.Catholic HierarchyAnnuario Pontificio per l’Anno .. Città del Vaticano :Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, Multiple Years.The data for these maps was extracted from the gold standard of Church data, the Annuario Pontificio, published yearly by the Vatican. The collection and data development of the Vatican Statistics Office are unknown. GoodLands is not responsible for errors within this data. We encourage people to document and report errant information to us at data@good-lands.org or directly to the Vatican.World Regional BoundariesCredits: Esri; Global Mapping International, Missions Database: Global Mapping International; United States Central Intelligence AgencyThis layer represents the boundaries for the regions of the world. There are 25 commonly recognized world regions. The layer provides a base map of the regions for the world, providing a straightforward method of selecting a small multi-country area for display or study. The layer is suitable for display to a largest scale of 1:15,000,000.To download the data for this layer as a layer package for use in ArcGIS desktop applications, please refer to World Regions.Additional information about regular changes in bishops and sees comes from a variety of public diocesan and news announcements.GoodLands’ polygon data layers, version 2.0 for global ecclesiastical boundaries of the Roman Catholic Church:Although care has been taken to ensure the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information provided, due to this being the first developed dataset of global ecclesiastical boundaries curated from many sources it may have a higher margin of error than established geopolitical administrative boundary maps. Boundaries need to be verified with appropriate Ecclesiastical Leadership. The current information is subject to change without notice. No parties involved with the creation of this data are liable for indirect, special or incidental damage resulting from, arising out of or in connection with the use of the information. We referenced 1960 sources to build our global datasets of ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Often, they were isolated images of dioceses, historical documents and information about parishes that were cross checked. These sources can be viewed here:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ANlH1S_aYJOyz4TtG0HHgz0OLxnOvXLHMt4FVOS85Q/edit#gid=0To learn more or contact us please visit: https://good-lands.org/

Historically, Portugal has been a country of Catholics. The 2021 census demonstrated that this trend has not been inverted, as over 80 percent of the population in Portugal identified as Catholic. Protestant or Evangelic believers accounted for more than two percent of the population, while Jehovah's Witnesses constituted one percent of residents. Among non-Christian faiths, Muslims were the most representative group, making up 0.42 percent of the population.

Religious but generally not practicing the faith

In the same year, Catholics numbered more than seven million people spread throughout the country, conquering the religious majority in the mainland and in the two autonomous regions. Citizens without religion totaled more than 1.2 million, which made of them the second most numerous religious group in Portugal. Young people presented the same religious trend, with young Catholics being the most representative group, followed by non-religious. Among youngsters, the attendance of religious events was mostly conducted occasionally, while a quarter did not participate in such proceedings at all.

The contribute of immigration to the growth of Evangelical Christianity

Despite being the minority, non-Catholic Christian and non-Christian faiths have been growing in Portugal. In 2011, Evangelical believers totaled 75.6 thousand, more than doubling ten years after. Such growth was partially motivated by the increase in Brazilian immigration, as more than 61 percent of new members of Evangelical churches in 2023 were of Brazilian origin. In fact, Brazil was the place of origin of almost 82 percent of all the immigrant Evangelical Christians residing in Portugal. However, more than a quarter of new Evangelical Christians were Portuguese, which shows that other religions, namely Christian Catholicism, have been losing members to Evangelical Catholicism.

Spain: Catholic Christians as percent of the total population: The latest value from 2013 is 88.3 percent, a decline from 88.8 percent in 2012. In comparison, the world average is 43.2 percent, based on data from 84 countries. Historically, the average for Spain from 1960 to 2013 is 95.5 percent. The minimum value, 88.3 percent, was reached in 2013 while the maximum of 98.5 percent was recorded in 1969.

The USA: Catholic Christians as percent of the total population: The latest value from 2013 is 24 percent, unchanged from 24 percent in 2012. In comparison, the world average is 43.2 percent, based on data from 84 countries. Historically, the average for the USA from 1960 to 2013 is 24 percent. The minimum value, 23.9 percent, was reached in 1960 while the maximum of 24 percent was recorded in 1983.

In 2024, 86 percent of Catholics in Argentina said that the Catholic Church should allow its followers the use of birth control. In Brazil, on the other hand, only 63 percent of respondents said they agreed with this permission.

Integrated Geodatabase: The Global Catholic Foortprint of Healthcare and WelfareBurhans, Molly A., Mrowczynski, Jon M., Schweigel, Tayler C., and Burhans, Debra T., Wacta, Christine. The Catholic Foortprint of Care Around the World (1). GoodLands and GHR Foundation, 2019.Catholic Statistics Numbers:Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae – Statistical Yearbook of the Church: 1980 – 2018. LIBRERIA EDITRICE VATICAN.Historical Country Boundary Geodatabase:Weidmann, Nils B., Doreen Kuse, and Kristian Skrede Gleditsch. The Geography of the International System: The CShapes Dataset. International Interactions 36 (1). 2010.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03050620903554614GoodLands created a significant new data set for GHR and the UISG of important Church information regarding orphanages and sisters around the world as well as healthcare, welfare, and other child care institutions. The data were extracted from the gold standard of Church data, the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae, published yearly by the Vatican. It is inevitable that raw data sources will contain errors. GoodLands and its partners are not responsible for misinformation within Vatican documents. We encourage error reporting to us at data@good-lands.org or directly to the Vatican.GoodLands worked with the GHR Foundation to map Catholic Healthcare and Welfare around the world using data mined from the Annuarium Statisticum Eccleasiea. GHR supported the data development and GoodLands independently invested in the mapping of information.The workflows and data models developed for this project can be used to map any global, historical country-scale data in a time-series map while accounting for country boundary changes. GoodLands created proprietary software that enables mining the Annuarium Statisticum Eccleasiea (see Software and Program Library at our home page for details).The GHR Foundation supported data extraction and cleaning of this information.GoodLands’ supported the development of maps, infographics, and applications for all healthcare data.

Vietnam: Catholic Christians as percent of the total population: The latest value from 2013 is 7.7 percent, an increase from 7.6 percent in 2012. In comparison, the world average is 43.2 percent, based on data from 84 countries. Historically, the average for Vietnam from 1960 to 2013 is 6 percent. The minimum value, 4.6 percent, was reached in 1960 while the maximum of 7.7 percent was recorded in 2013.

Philippines Population: RA: Roman Catholic data was reported at 80,304,061.000 Person in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 92,097,978.000 Person for 2010. Philippines Population: RA: Roman Catholic data is updated yearly, averaging 80,304,061.000 Person from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 92,097,978.000 Person in 2010 and a record low of 61,862,898.000 Person in 2000. Philippines Population: RA: Roman Catholic data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Philippine Statistics Authority. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Philippines – Table PH.G003: Population: Religious: Affiliation.

Based on the 2020 census, Region 5 or the Bicol Region registered the highest share of households who reported Roman Catholic as their religious affiliation at 93.5 percent. This was followed by Region 8 or Eastern Visayas with a share of 92.3 percent. In contrast, only five percent of households in BARMM were Roman Catholics. The Philippines is one of the countries in the world with the highest population professing the Catholic faith, after Brazil and Mexico.

Spain has a long history of Islamic tradition under its belt. From cuisine to architecture, the southern European country has been linked to the North of Africa through many common elements. At the end of 2023, there were approximately 2.41 million Muslims in Spain, most of them of Spanish and Moroccan nationality, with upwards of eight hundred thousand believers in both cases. With a Muslim population of more than 660,000 people, Catalonia was home to the largest Muslim community in Spain as of the same date.

The not so Catholic Spain

Believers of a religion other than Catholicism accounted for approximately 3 percent of the Spanish population, according to the most recent data. Although traditionally a Catholic country, Spain saw a decline in the number of believers over the past years. Compared to previous years, when the share of believers accounted for slightly over 70 percent of the Spanish population, the Catholic community lost ground, while still being the major religion for the foreseable future.

A Catholic majority, a practicing minority

Going to mass is no longer a thing in Spain, or so it would seem when looking at the latest statistics about the matter: 50 percent of those who consider themselves Catholics almost never attend any religious service in 2024. The numbers increased until 2019, from 55.5 percent of the population never attending religious services in 2011 to 63.1 percent in 2019. The share of population that stated to be practicing believers and go to mass every Sunday and on the most important holidays accounted for only 15.5 percent.

Germany: Catholic Christians as percent of the total population: The latest value from 2013 is 31.7 percent, a decline from 31.9 percent in 2012. In comparison, the world average is 43.2 percent, based on data from 84 countries. Historically, the average for Germany from 1960 to 2013 is 38.2 percent. The minimum value, 31.7 percent, was reached in 2013 while the maximum of 45 percent was recorded in 1960.