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.

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.

Except for Uruguay, over ** 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 **** to **** percent.

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 **** million euros to the Pope.

The average for 2013 based on 10 countries was 82.1 percent. The highest value was in Colombia: 94.1 percent and the lowest value was in Uruguay: 57.6 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 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.

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 ** 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.

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.

The average for 2013 based on 4 countries was 23.3 percent. The highest value was in the Philippines: 81 percent and the lowest value was in India: 1.4 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/

Religious Populations Worldwide

Religious Populations Worldwide by Year and Category

By Throwback Thursday [source]

About this dataset

The dataset includes data on Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Baha'i Faith, Taoism, Confucianism, Jainism and various other syncretic and animist religions. For each religion or denomination category, it provides both the total population count and the percentage representation in relation to the overall population.

Additionally, - Columns labeled with Population provide numeric values representing the total number of individuals belonging to a particular religion or denomination. - Columns labeled with Percent represent numerical values indicating the percentage of individuals belonging to a specific religion or denomination within a given population. - Columns that begin with ** indicate primary categories (e.g., Christianity), while columns that do not have this prefix refer to subcategories (e.g., Christianity - Roman Catholics).

In addition to providing precise data about specific religions or denominations globally throughout multiple years,this dataset also records information about geographical locations by including state or country names under StateNme.

This comprehensive dataset is valuable for researchers seeking information on global religious trends and can be used for analysis in fields such as sociology, anthropology studies cultural studies among others

How to use the dataset

Introduction:

• Understanding the Columns:

• Year: Represents the year in which the data was recorded.

• StateNme: Represents the name of the state or country for which data is recorded.

• Population: Represents the total population of individuals.

• Total Religious: Represents the total percentage and population of individuals who identify as religious, regardless of specific religion.

• Non Religious: Represents the percentage and population of individuals who identify as non-religious or atheists.

• Identifying Specific Religions: The dataset includes columns for different religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Each religion is further categorized into specific denominations or types within that religion (e.g., Roman Catholics within Christianity). You can find relevant information about these religions by focusing on specific columns related to each one.

• Analyzing Percentages vs. Population: Some columns provide percentages while others provide actual population numbers for each category. Depending on your analysis requirement, you can choose either column type for your calculations and comparisons.

• Accessing Historical Data: The dataset includes records from multiple years allowing you to analyze trends in religious populations over time. You can filter data based on specific years using Excel filters or programming languages like Python.

• Filtering Data by State/Country: If you are interested in understanding religious populations in a particular state or country, use filters to focus on that region's data only.

Example - Extracting Information:

Let's say you want to analyze Hinduism's growth globally from 2000 onwards:

• Identify Relevant Columns:
• Year: to filter data from 2000 onwards.

• Hindu - Total (Percent): to analyze the percentage of individuals identifying as Hindus globally.

• Filter Data:

• Set a filter on the Year column and select values greater than or equal to 2000.

• Look for rows where Hindu - Total (Percent) has values.

• Analyze Results: You can now visualize and calculate the growth of Hinduism worldwide after filtering out irrelevant data. Use statistical methods or graphical representations like line charts to understand trends over time.

Conclusion: This guide has provided you with an overview of how to use the Rel

Research Ideas

• Comparing religious populations across different countries: With data available for different states and countries, this dataset allows for comparisons of religious populations across regions. Researchers can analyze how different religions are distributed geographically and compare their percentages or total populations across various locations.
• Studying the impact of historical events on religious demographics: Since the dataset includes records categorized by year, it can be used to study how historical events such as wars, migration, or political changes have influenced religious demographics over time. By comparing population numbers before and after specific events, resea...

This table provides Census 2021 estimates that classify people by Country of birth (12 categories) by Religion or religion brought up in for Northern Ireland. The table contains 48 counts.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

notes

1. 'EU' is the European Union and is as defined on census day (21 March 2021).
2. People who gave 'Cyprus' as their country of birth are included within the 'Europe: Other EU countries' category.
3. 'Europe: Other Non-EU countries' includes United Kingdom (part not specified) and Ireland (part not specified).
4. 'Religion' indicates religion, religious denomination or body.
5. 'Catholic' includes those who gave their current religion as Catholic or Roman Catholic.

Quality assurance report can be found here

On April 21st, 2025, Pope Francis died after twelve years as the leader of the Catholic Church. Starting from May 7th, 2025, *** cardinals will meet for electing Francis' successor in the Papal Conclave. Only cardinals aged below ** are eligible to vote. Traditionally, Italy is the most represented country, with ** cardinal electors in 2025, ahead of the US, with ***, and Brazil, with *****. While these countries host large Catholic communities, states where Catholics are a small minority will be represented in the Conclave too, such as Iran, Mongolia, and Sweden. Conversely, some countries of historic Catholic culture and tradition, such as Ireland and Austria, will not be represented in the Conclave.

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.

Integrated Geodatabase: The Global Catholic Foortprint of Care for the Vulnerable and ChildrenBurhans, 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.GoodLands created a significant new data set of important Church information regarding orphanages and sisters around the world as well as healthcare, welfare, and other child care institutions. The data was 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 around the world using data mined from the Annuarium Statisticum Eccleasiea.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 the bottom of this page for details).

This dataset is extracted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_by_country. Context: There s a story behind every dataset and heres your opportunity to share yours.Content: What s inside is more than just rows and columns. Make it easy for others to get started by describing how you acquired the data and what time period it represents, too. Acknowledgements:We wouldn t be here without the help of others. If you owe any attributions or thanks, include them here along with any citations of past research.Inspiration: Your data will be in front of the world s largest data science community. What questions do you want to see answered?

In 2020, Mexico had a catholic population of ********** people, by far the most followed religion in the country. Almost ** percent of that population was 60 years of age or older. The second age group with the most catholic followers was between 10 and 14 years of age, with *** percent.

ntegrated 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.