In 2022, there were around 1.39 billion Catholics worldwide, compared to 1.38 billion in 2021. In more than 20 years, the global Catholic population grew by approximately 194 million people. The Catholic population is growing fast in Africa and in the Americas, while it is declining in Europe.

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.

In 2022, there were around 1.39 billion Catholics worldwide, approximately 17.7 percent of the total global population. Even though the Catholic population has increased in absolute numbers, the share of Catholics has always fluctuated around 17 percent since 2010.

Catholics per Parish {title at top of page}Data Developers: Burhans, Molly A., Cheney, David M., Emege, Thomas, Gerlt, R.. . “Catholics per Parish {title at top of page}”. Scale not given. Version 1.0. MO and CT, USA: GoodLands Inc., Catholic Hierarchy, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2019.Web map developer: Molly Burhans, October 2019Web app developer: Molly Burhans, October 2019GoodLands’ 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 Often, they were isolated images of dioceses, historical documents and information about parishes that were cross checked.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/The Catholic Leadership global maps information is derived from the Annuario Pontificio, which is curated and published by the Vatican Statistics Office annually, and digitized by David Cheney at Catholic-Hierarchy.org -- updated are supplemented with diocesan and news announcements. GoodLands maps this into global ecclesiastical boundaries. Admin 3 Ecclesiastical Territories:Burhans, Molly A., Cheney, David M., Gerlt, R.. . “Admin 3 Ecclesiastical Territories For Web”. Scale not given. Version 1.2. MO and CT, USA: GoodLands Inc., Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2019.Derived from: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.Additional information about regular changes in bishops and sees comes from a variety of public diocesan and news announcements.

In 2022, there were 1.39 billion Catholics worldwide, compared to 1.38 billion in 2021. The largest population growth was recorded in Africa, where there were 7.27 million new Catholics in 2022, ahead of the Americas, where the Catholic population grew by six million people. The population declined only in Europe, where there were 474,000 fewer Catholics compared to 2021.

Catholics to Population {title at top of page}Data Developers: Burhans, Molly A., Cheney, David M., Emege, Thomas, Gerlt, R.. . “Catholics to Population {title at top of page}”. Scale not given. Version 1.0. MO and CT, USA: GoodLands Inc., Catholic Hierarchy, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2019.Web map developer: Molly Burhans, October 2019Web app developer: Molly Burhans, October 2019GoodLands’ 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/The Catholic Leadership global maps information is derived from the Annuario Pontificio, which is curated and published by the Vatican Statistics Office annually, and digitized by David Cheney at Catholic-Hierarchy.org -- updated are supplemented with diocesan and news announcements. GoodLands maps this into global ecclesiastical boundaries. Admin 3 Ecclesiastical Territories:Burhans, Molly A., Cheney, David M., Gerlt, R.. . “Admin 3 Ecclesiastical Territories For Web”. Scale not given. Version 1.2. MO and CT, USA: GoodLands Inc., Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2019.Derived from: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.Additional information about regular changes in bishops and sees comes from a variety of public diocesan and news announcements.

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.

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/

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.

The average for 2013 based on 20 countries was 31 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.

Singapore Population: Religion: Christianity: Catholic data was reported at 220.900 Person th in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 219.133 Person th for 2010. Singapore Population: Religion: Christianity: Catholic data is updated yearly, averaging 219.133 Person th from Jun 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 220.900 Person th in 2015 and a record low of 118.980 Person th in 2000. Singapore Population: Religion: Christianity: Catholic data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Singapore – Table SG.G002: Population by Religion .

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, donations added up to almost 50 million euros, compared to 44 in 2021.

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.

Priest Map Series {title at top of page}Data Developers: Burhans, Molly A., Cheney, David M., Emege, Thomas, Gerlt, R.. . “Priest Map Series {title at top of page}”. Scale not given. Version 1.0. MO and CT, USA: GoodLands Inc., Catholic Hierarchy, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2019.Web map developer: Molly Burhans, October 2019Web app developer: Molly Burhans, October 2019GoodLands’ 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/The Catholic Leadership global maps information is derived from the Annuario Pontificio, which is curated and published by the Vatican Statistics Office annually, and digitized by David Cheney at Catholic-Hierarchy.org -- updated are supplemented with diocesan and news announcements. GoodLands maps this into global ecclesiastical boundaries. Admin 3 Ecclesiastical Territories:Burhans, Molly A., Cheney, David M., Gerlt, R.. . “Admin 3 Ecclesiastical Territories For Web”. Scale not given. Version 1.2. MO and CT, USA: GoodLands Inc., Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., 2019.Derived from: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.Additional information about regular changes in bishops and sees comes from a variety of public diocesan and news announcements.

The average for 2013 based on 1 countries was 1 percent. The highest value was in Djibouti: 1 percent and the lowest value was in Djibouti: 1 percent. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2013. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This statistic shows the Rrgional distribution of Catholics in 2010. 23.9 percent of all Catholics worldwide lived in Europe.

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.

Singapore Population: Religion: Male: Christianity: Catholic data was reported at 98.100 Person th in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 100.083 Person th for 2010. Singapore Population: Religion: Male: Christianity: Catholic data is updated yearly, averaging 98.100 Person th from Jun 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 100.083 Person th in 2010 and a record low of 52.901 Person th in 2000. Singapore Population: Religion: Male: Christianity: Catholic data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Singapore – Table SG.G002: Population by Religion .

Attitude towards faith and the Catholic Church. Faith practice. Questions about World Youth Day. Media communication.

Topics: 1. Attitude towards faith and the Catholic Church: self-assessment of religiosity; belief in a life after death; influence of religion and faith on everyday actions; religious practice: frequency of praying, reading the Bible and meditating; greater interest of young people in religion or the Catholic Church. Questions of faith more than it appears (religious spiral of silence); frequency of attending church services; lasting positive influence of e.g. family, friends, etc. on the personal relationship with the church; attitude towards the Roman Catholic Church as an institution; contact with the parish; function in the parish; type of function; activity in youth work; area of youth work (sport, politics, church (association, grouping), other).

1. Questions about the World Youth Day: Earlier participation in a World Youth Day; frequency of participation; visit of the World Youth Day alone or accompanied (friends, youth group of the parish, others); members of the group already known beforehand; image of the Pope (e.g. head of the Catholic Church, infallible, representative of God on earth, role model, etc.).); importance of the Pope´s participation in World Youth Day; participation in World Youth Day even without the Pope´s participation; importance of international meetings at World Youth Day; importance of various elements of the program (catechesis, welcome celebration with the Pope, sacrament of reconciliation, youth festival, Way of the Cross, pilgrimage, vigil, closing service with the Pope); previous experiences at the World Youth Day (part of a living faith community of Catholic Christians, most important religious community experience, extra-ordinary life, community feeling); personal motivation for participation in the World Youth Day (for examplee.g. traveling together with friends, experiencing many young Christians, making new friends, etc.).

2. Media communication: sources of information about World Youth Day; credibility of reporting; communication with third parties about World Youth Day reports in the media; interlocutors; mobile phone ownership at World Youth Day; purpose of mobile phone use; general mobile phone ownership; frequency of mobile phone use for: Telephoning, sending SMS, chatting, photographing and filming videos; frequency of use of different media; source of information about the Global Village; frequency of visits to the Global Village; membership in the Catholic Rural Youth Movement; knowledge of the Catholic Rural Youth Movement; activity in environmental protection; institution named; motivation for visiting the Global Village; visited offers of the Global Village (Energiebauernhof, climate expedition, MIJARC tent, others).

Participants from Energiebauernhof, climate expedition and MIJARC tent were additionally asked: Positive food for thought on the topics preservation of the environment (Energiebauernhof), climate change (Klimaexpedition) and international solidarity (MIJARC Tent) through the visit; evaluation of the visit as a special experience; participation in one of the actions; actions mentioned.

Demography: sex; age; current occupation; job title; highest school-leaving certificate or current type of school attended; denomination; marital status; federal state.