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TheGlobalCatholicPopulation|PewResearchCenter

Religion&PublicLife
F EB R UAR Y13,2013

TheGlobalCatholicPopulation
Overthepastcentury,thenumberofCatholicsaroundtheglobehasmorethantripled,fromanestimated291
millionin1910tonearly1.1billionasof2010,accordingtoacomprehensivedemographicstudy
(/Christian/GlobalChristianityexec.aspx)bythePewResearchCenter.

Butoverthesameperiod,theworldsoverallpopulationalsohasrisenrapidly.Asaresult,Catholicshavemade
uparemarkablystableshareofallpeopleonEarth.In1910,Catholicscomprisedabouthalf(48%)ofall
Christiansand17%oftheworldstotalpopulation,accordingtohistoricalestimatesfromtheWorldChristian
Database.Acenturylater,thePewResearchstudyfound,Catholicsstillcompriseabouthalf(50%)ofChristians
worldwideand16%ofthetotalglobalpopulation.
WhathaschangedsubstantiallyoverthepastcenturyisthegeographicdistributionoftheworldsCatholics.In
1910,EuropewashometoabouttwothirdsofallCatholics,andnearlynineintenlivedeitherinEurope(65%)
orLatinAmerica(24%).By2010,bycontrast,onlyaboutaquarterofallCatholics(24%)wereinEurope.The
largestshare(39%)wereinLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean.

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RapidgrowthhasoccurredinsubSaharanAfrica,whichtodayishometoabout171millionCatholics(16%),up
fromanestimated1million(lessthan1%)in1910.TherealsohasbeenrapidgrowthinthevastAsiaPacific
region,where131millionCatholics(12%)nowlive,upfrom14million(5%)acenturyago.
NorthAmericasshareoftheglobalCatholicpopulationhasincreasedmoreslowly,fromabout15million(5%)
in1910to89million(8%)asof2010.
ThoughtheMiddleEastandNorthAfricaaretheancientcradleofChristianity,theMiddleEastNorthAfrica
regionishometolessthan1%ofCatholicstoday,aboutthesameasin1910.

HowdidtheshareofCatholicsinvariousregionschangebetween1910and
2010?
WhilethereweredramaticshiftsintheregionaldistributionoftheCatholicpopulationbetween1910and2010,
someofthischangeisduetodifferentratesofoverallpopulationgrowth.Europe,forexample,washometo24%
ofthepeopleintheworldin1910asof2010,just11%oftheworldspopulationlivesinEurope.Meanwhile,
LatinAmericaandtheCaribbeangrewfrom4%oftheglobalpopulationin1910to9%in2010.
Anotherwaytolookatthechangebetween1910and2010istocomparetheportionofeachregionspopulation
thatisCatholic.LatinAmericawasthemostheavilyCatholicregioninbothyears,buttheshareoftheregions
populationthatisCatholicdecreasedfromabout90%in1910to72%in2010.Meanwhile,Europespopulation
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wentfrom44%Catholicto35%Catholic.WhilebothLatinAmericaandEuropebecamelessheavilyCatholic
overthisperiod,LatinAmericawhichhadmuchlargerpopulationgrowtheclipsedEuropetobecomethe
regionwiththelargestCatholicpopulationinsheernumbers.

Asapercentageofregionalpopulation,thelargestgrowthoccurredinsubSaharanAfrica,whichwentfrom
about1%Catholicin1910to21%Catholicin2010.TheCatholicshareofthepopulationintheAsiaPacific
regiongrewfrom1%to3%duringthisperiod.Meanwhile,theCatholicshareofNorthAmericaspopulation
grewfrom16%to26%.

HowhasthepopulationchangedinheavilyCatholiccountriesinthepast
decade?
InseveralcountrieswithlargeCatholicpopulations,theshareofthepopulaceidentifyingasCatholichas
declinedoverthelastdecade.BrazilhasthelargestCatholicpopulationintheworld,buttheshareofself
identifiedCatholicsinBrazildroppedfromapproximatelythreequarters(74%)in2000toabouttwothirds
(65%)in2010.Mexico,thecountrywiththesecondlargestCatholicpopulationintheworld,wentfromabout
89%Catholicin2000to85%Catholicin2010.

WhatdoweknowabouttheU.S.Catholicpopulation?

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TheUnitedStatesishometoabout7%ofallCatholicsintheworld.Asof2010,anestimated23%ofU.S.adults
and24%ofthetotalU.S.population(adultsandchildren)areCatholic.
TheCatholicpopulationintheU.S.hasundergonesomestrikingdemographicshiftsdespitehoveringarounda
quarterofthepopulationforseveraldecades.Forexample,theCatholicpopulationhaslostmoremembersthan
ithasgainedfromreligiousswitching.Infact,oneintenadultsintheUnitedStatesisaformerCatholic,
accordingtothePewResearchCenters2009reportFaithinFlux.(/2009/04/27/faithinflux/)
Inaddition,theCatholicpopulationintheU.S.hasbeenheavilyshapedbyimmigrationandincludesarising
shareofLatinos.Morethanhalf(52%)ofallmigrantstotheUnitedStatesareCatholic.Oftheestimated75.4
millionCatholicsintheUnitedStatesin2010,22.2millionwerebornoutsidetheUnitedStates(30%).By
comparison,slightlymorethan13%oftheoverallU.S.populationisforeignborn.
Threequarters(76%)ofCatholicimmigrantslivingintheU.S.arefromLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean,while
about10%havecomefromAsiaPacificandabout10%havecomefromEurope.InrecentPewResearchCenter
surveysofadultCatholics,60%arenonHispanicwhites,33%areHispanicand7%areotherminorities,
includingAsians.1(#ftn1)

WhichcountrieshavethemostCatholicsnow?

WhichcountrieshadthemostCatholicsin1910?

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Methodology
Datafor1910comefromtheWorldChristianDatabase(Brill2013)andarebasedonhistoricalchurch
membershipdatastandardizedbyToddM.JohnsonandhiscolleaguesattheCenterfortheStudyofGlobal
ChristianityatGordonConwellTheologicalSeminaryinSouthHamilton,Mass.
AlltheotherdemographicdatainthereportwerecompiledbythestaffofthePewResearchCenterandarebased
primarilyoncensusesandnationallyrepresentativesurveys.Europeanestimatesweredevelopedin
collaborationwithresearchersattheInternationalInstituteforAppliedSystemsAnalysis(IIASA)in
Laxenburg,Austria.
Thisreportupdates2010CatholicpopulationestimatespublishedbythePewResearchCenterinits2011report
GlobalChristianity:AReportontheSizeandDistributionoftheWorldsChristianPopulation
(/Christian/GlobalChristianityexec.aspx).Theupdated2010Catholicpopulationtotal(1,078,790,000)isslightly

lowerthantheestimatepublishedinthe2011GlobalChristianityreport(1,094,610,00).Somecountry
estimatesdifferfortworeasons.First,newdatahasbecomeavailable,suchasthe2010censusinBrazil.Second,
estimatesthatreliedonolderdata,suchasthe2001censusinAustria,havebeenupdatedbasedonthe
populationprojectionsfortheoverallChristianpopulationreportedinthePewResearchCenters2012report
TheGlobalReligiousLandscape:AReportontheSizeandDistributionoftheWorldsMajorReligiousGroups
asof2010(/globalreligiouslandscape.aspx).Detailedsourcelistsandcompletemethodologicaldiscussionsare
includedintheappendicesofthesePewResearchCenterreports.TheprojectionsintheGlobalReligious
LandscapereportweremadeincollaborationwithIIASAresearchers.Migrationestimatesaredrawnfromthe
PewResearchCentersGlobalReligionandMigrationDatabase.

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TheVaticanPublishingHousepublishesaStatisticalYearbookoftheChurch,whichincludesCatholic
populationestimates.PewResearchscensusandsurveybasedestimatesfor2010mayvaryfromnumbers
reportedintheStatisticalYearbook.Forexample,theStatisticalYearbookhasahighertotalCatholic
population(1.196billion)andhigherestimatesoftheCatholicpopulationsofBrazil(163,269,000)andMexico
(99,635,000).Bycontrast,PewResearchanalysisof2010censusdatasuggeststhereare126,750,000Catholics
inBraziland96,450,000CatholicsinMexico.

DefiningCatholics
TheCatholicChurchincludestheinternationalbodyofchurchesinfullcommunionwiththebishopofRome,
thepope.ThesechurchesincludetheWestern(orLatin)churchand22EasternCatholicchurches.Eachofthese
churcheshasadistincthierarchyandtraditionalliturgy,prayersandreligiousobservances.TheWestern(Latin)
churchisthelargestofthesechurches.AmongthemajorbranchesoftheEasternchurchesaretheAlexandrian,
Antiochene,Armenian,ByzantineandChaldean.
EstimatesforthenumberofCatholicsinthisreportalsoincludemembersofsomerelativelysmallCatholic
groups(suchastheBrazilianCatholicApostolicChurch)thatarenotincommunionwiththebishopofRome.

AdditionalResourcesonCatholicism
PopeBenedictOvertheYears:NewsCoveragebytheNumbers (http://www.pewresearch.org/2013/02/12/pope
benedictovertheyearsnewscoveragebythenumbers/)

pewresearch.orgFebruary12,2013
ResourcesonCatholicismandthePope(/Christian/Catholic/PewForumResourcesonCatholicismandthe
Pope.aspx)

pewforum.orgDecember11,2011
Map:TheworldsCatholics (http://features.pewforum.org/globalchristianity/worldmaps/catholic.php)
pewforum.orgDecember19,2011
CatholicsViewsofU.S.Bishops (/Christian/Catholic/CatholicsViewsofUSBishops.aspx)
pewforum.orgNovember12,2012

Footnotes:
1FormoreinformationabouttheracialandethniccompositionofU.S.religiousgroups,seethedemographics
sectionoftheOctober2012reportbythePewResearchCentersForumonReligion&PublicLife,Noneson
theRise(http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nonesontherise.aspx).(returntotext)(#ftnrtn1)
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