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 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.

Kenya had a Catholic population of roughly 9.7 million people, according to the last country census conducted in 2019. Around one million Catholics lived in the capital Nairobi, the largest amount among all Kenyan counties. Nearly 590,000 people living in Kiambu adhered to Catholicism, while half-million dwelled in Machakos.

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.

The share for Catholic and Evangelic believers in Brazil show opposite trends. While in 1994 Catholics gathered 75 percent of the Brazilian population, it is estimated that in 2032 this figure will drop to 39.8 percent. Meanwhile Evangelicals, which at the beginning of the indicated period were only 14 percent of the population, are estimated to reach 38.6 percent by 2032, a growth of 24.6 percentage points. Nevertheless, in 2019, Brazilian catholic believers were still the largest group, with 51 percent.

Roman Catholic is the most common religious affiliation in Colombia. In a survey carried out in 2023, nearly ** percent of Colombian respondents claimed to be of Catholic faith, whereas the second most chosen religion was Evangelism, with **** percent of the people interviewed. More than ** percent of respondents answered they had no religious affiliation. The advent of evangelicalism in Colombia and LAC The share of Catholics in Colombia is above the average in Latin America and the Caribbean, where about ** percent of adults identify as followers of Catholicism. Nevertheless, even if Colombia stood out historically as one of the countries with the largest share of Catholics in the region, their numbers have been dwindling considerably in the past few decades: in the year 2000, **** of Colombians identified as Catholics, over ** percent points more than two decades later. Meanwhile, Evangelism keeps gaining ground in both the country and the region. While merely *** percent of Colombians were evangelical in 1996, this share had grown almost five-fold by 2020, while atheists and agnostics passed from *** to **** in the same lapse of time. The whole of Latin America is experiencing a similar trend, with evangelists accounting for more than one fifth of the population in countries such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Brazil. The success of Evangelical Churches in Latin America is related, among other things, to the creation of social safety nets in poor communities, the rise of conservative political parties and movements, and more flexible standards for ordination.
Religiosity among young Colombians Interestingly, eastern religions such as Buddhism enjoy the same popularity as Evangelism and Protestantism among young Colombians. Religion seems to have a considerable impact on youngsters’ life. More than half of surveyed Colombians aged between 15 and 29 claimed that religious beliefs provided them with inner peace, while another **** and ** percent said that it helped them to quit drugs and gangs, respectively. Only *** percent of the respondents affirmed that religious beliefs had no influence on their lives. As for the religiosity of young Catholic Colombians, very few claimed to be very observant. Around ** percent considered themselves not very observant, while around a third classified as somewhat observant.

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/

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. The Witbank Diocese of South Africa is also included in the statistics for Antarctica due to intersection with Arctic islands. Some areas, including China, are not included in East Asian statistics. To learn more about the underlying data please click here.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/

In 2020, Mexico had a protestant and evangelical population of ********** people, the second most followed religion in the country, just behind Catholicism. During that year, **** 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.

In 2021, around ***** percent of the population in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia were Catholics. Indonesia has the largest Islamic population in the world and therefore the largest Muslim nation. However, Indonesia is not a Muslim nation by constitution. The archipelago has *** official religions – Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism.

This map displays predominant religion by country and predominant religion family by region. Religion family categories shown include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Other. Religion categories by country shown include Roman Catholic, Protestant, Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Folk Religion, Christianity Other, Hindu, Shi’a Islam, Unaffiliated, Uninhabited, and Other. First- and second-largest religion and percent of the population practicing each are shown for each country.The main source of data comes from the Association of Religion Data Archives - https://www.thearda.com/.

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.

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.SPATIAL JOIN > WORLD REGION TO DIOCESESADDITIVE DISSOLVE > DIOCESES BY WORLD REGIONGlobal 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/

In 2024, Ethiopia had the largest Christian population in Africa, with around 77.5 million people who identified as Christian. The second highest Christian population was in Nigeria, with 74.4 million people. Christianity has a significant presence in Africa, with its history on the continent dating back to the fourth century in Ethiopia. Furthermore, Christianity has spread throughout Africa with different denominations and traditions, taking root in various regions. Some of the largest Christian denominations in Africa include the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

During a survey conducted in 2023, approximately 54 percent of respondents in 17 Latin American countries claimed to be catholic. Meanwhile, 14.9 percent of the people participating in the survey said they did not profess any religion.In Mexico, more than 69 percent of respondents said they professed Catholicism. Particularly in Honduras, Colombia and Ecuador, most Christians think religion is very important in their lives.

(UNCLASSIFIED) The Liberian population is religiously heterogeneous, comprised 85.6 percent Christian, 12.6 percent Muslim, 0.6 percent adherents of tribal or indigenous traditions, 1.5 percent non-religious, and less than 1 percent a combination of Bahais, Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists. Primary denominations within the country’s Christian majority include Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal (AME), AME Zion, and Pentecostal. Many individuals identified as "Christian" retain a mix of Christian and indigenous (often animistic) beliefs. Both Christian and Muslim Liberians are dispersed throughout the country. Most Muslims belong to two distinct ethnic groups, the Mandingo—who are widely distributed—and the Vai who live mostly in western areas.Christianity reached Liberia in the 19th century with the arrival of freed slaves from the United States. Missionaries of various Protestant denominations started arriving in the 1820s, eventually forming what became one of the highest per capita missionary populations in the world. The first permanent Catholic mission in the country was established in the early 1900s. A Liberian Council of Churches composed of Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, and other similar groups now exists, and an evangelical association of churches and missions has operated on and off since 1966. Though religiously-motivated violence in Liberia is relatively uncommon, tensions between Christians and Muslims have escalated in the past. In October 2004, approximately 25 people were killed and several churches and mosques were destroyed in Monrovia during clashes between Christians of several ethnic groups and Mandingo Muslims. The Liberian constitution provides religious freedom for all inhabitants, and in practice, the government respects minority religious groups. According to a 2013 document published by the U.S. Department of State, the Liberian government does not discriminate based on religious affiliation, belief, or worship. Although there is no state religion in the country, government ceremonies commonly begin and end with prayers or hymns, the majority of which are Christian, though some are Muslim. Most private schools in the country are operated by churches or missions. The majority receive government funding, though non-religious schools are also heavily subsidized. Religious education is available as an elective in public schools, but is not required. Social welfare institutions are largely managed or affiliated with religious organizations, often in conjunction with international aid agencies. As regards the ongoing Ebola crisis in West Africa, some religious leaders in Liberia have cited “immoral acts” as the cause of the outbreak. In August 2014, Liberia’s Council of Churches agreed, “God is angry with Liberia,” and urged Liberians to seek forgiveness for corruption and immorality by staying indoors and fasting for three days.Attribute Table Field DescriptionsISO3 - International Organization for Standardization 3-digit country code ADM0_NAME - Administration level zero identification / name ADM1_NAME - Administration level one identification / name ADM2_NAME - Administration level two identification / name NAME - Name of religious institution TYPE - Classification in the geodatabase (type of institution) CITY - City location available SPA_ACC - Spatial accuracy of site location (1 – high, 2 – medium, 3 – low) COMMENTS - Comments or notes regarding the religious institution SOURCE_DT - Source one creation date SOURCE - Source one SOURCE2_DT - Source two creation date SOURCE2 - Source two CollectionThe feature class was generated utilizing data from OpenStreetMap, Wikimapia, GeoNames and other sources. OpenStreetMap is a free worldwide map, created by crowd-sourcing. Wikimapia is open-content mapping focused on gathering all geographical objects in the world. GeoNames is a geographical places database maintained and edited by the online community. Consistent naming conventions for geographic locations were attempted but name variants may exist, which can include historical or less widespread interpretations.The data included herein have not been derived from a registered survey and should be considered approximate unless otherwise defined. While rigorous steps have been taken to ensure the quality of each dataset, DigitalGlobe is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of data compiled from outside sources.Metadata information was collected form U.S. Department of State publications as well as news media articles. Sources (HGIS)"Cathedral of St. Therese of The Child Jesus." GCatholic. July 2014. Accessed October 7, 2014. http://www.gcatholic.org.DigitalGlobe, "DigitalGlobe Imagery Archive." Accessed October 01, 2014. GeoNames, "Liberia." September 23, 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.geonames.org.Google, September 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. www.google.com.OpenStreetMap, "Liberia." September 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.openstreetmap.org.Wikimapia, "Liberia." September 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://wikimapia.org.Sources (Metadata)Baden, Joel and Candida Moss. “Ebola Is Not God’s Wrath: Religious leaders are perpetuating dangerous, dehumanizing beliefs about sin and disease.” Slate. August 20, 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.slate.com.“Country Profile: Liberia.” Soudan Interior Mission. January 01, 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.sim.org.“Education System in Liberia.” Classbase. January 01, 2012. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.classbase.com.“Liberia 2005 International Religious Freedom Report.” United States Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. January 01, 2005. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.state.gov.“Liberia 2012 International Religious Freedom Report.” United States Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. January 01, 2005. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.state.gov.“Liberia 2014 International Religious Freedom Report.” United States Department of State. January 01, 2014. Accessed October 01, 2014. http://www.state.gov.

In 2020, Mexico had a catholic population of ********** people, by far the most followed religion in the country. Mexico State concentrated more than **** million, close to the double of the second state in the list, Jalisco. The capital Mexico City figured in the third place, with **** million Catholics.

Among the recognized 267 popes of the Catholic Church, the vast majority of them had *****************************. The last ******* pope was John Paul I, who died in 1978. ****** had ** popes, the second-largest number in history, with the last one being Gregory XI, who died in 1378. On April 21st, 2025, Francis, the first Argentinian pope, died after twelve years of pontificate. On May 9th, 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church with the name Leo XIV. He is the second pope from the American continent and the ********************************, as he was born in *****************, in 1955. He holds Peruvian citizenship, too.