World Christian Population

Background

The world Christian population is an estimate produced by research institutions that compile national censuses, opinion surveys, denominational reports, and similar sources. Countries differ in how they ask about religion, and some do not ask about it at all. For this reason, the exact number cannot be known. These statistics count adherents of the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and the Orthodox Church, as well as members of independent churches that belong to no denomination, grouping them all together as "Christians."

There are two principal sources. The first is the World Christian Encyclopedia, published in 1982 by the mission statistician David B. Barrett. A second edition was published in 2001 by Barrett, George Kurian, and Todd Johnson. In 2019, after Barrett's death in 2011, Todd Johnson and Gina Zurlo published a third edition. This work continues in the World Christian Database, maintained by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the United States. The second source consists of the religious demography reports of the Pew Research Center, an American research organization.

Development

• 1900: The CSGC estimates the number of Christians at about 558 million (34.5% of the world population). According to the Pew Research Center, roughly two-thirds of Christians lived in Europe at that time, while only about 1% lived in sub-Saharan Africa.
• 1970: About 1.216 billion (32.9%) (CSGC).
• 2000: About 1.988 billion (32.3%) (CSGC).
• 2010: The Pew Research Center put the number of Christians at about 2.18 billion and reported that 61% of them lived in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the so-called Global South.
• 2020: In a June 2025 report, the Pew Research Center analyzed more than 2,700 censuses and surveys. The report estimated the number of Christians at about 2.3 billion (28.8%). Although the number grew by 122 million over the decade, it did not keep pace with world population growth, and the Christian share fell by 1.8 percentage points. The CSGC counts about 2.521 billion (32.2%) for the same year.

Outcomes and Impact

The most significant change has been in where Christians live. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2010 Europe was home to the largest share of the world's Christians (25.8%). By 2020, sub-Saharan Africa (30.7%) had overtaken Europe (22.3%). Zurlo of the CSGC explains that the Christian share of Africa's population rose from 9% in 1900 to nearly 50% in 2020.

In Europe and North America, a growing number of people raised in Christian homes have left religion. Between 2010 and 2020, the Christian share of the population fell below half in the United Kingdom (49%), Australia (47%), France (46%), and Uruguay (44%).

Among Christian traditions, the growth of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements has been especially notable. The CSGC estimates that adherents of these movements numbered fewer than one million in 1900 and projects that they will exceed one billion by 2050. It also estimated the number of denominations worldwide in 2024 at about 47,000. The situation in Korea is covered in the articles Christian Population of Korea and Missionary Sending by Korean Churches.

Assessment

• Differences in figures: Estimates for the same year can differ by more than 200 million depending on the institution. One comparative study noted that the World Christian Database generally follows trends similar to those of other sources but consistently places the Christian share higher.
• Differences in interpretation: Those who cite CSGC data (such as Lifeway Research) emphasize that Christians are growing faster than the world population and will exceed three billion before 2050. The Pew Research Center holds that although the number of Christians has increased, their share has declined, chiefly because of the growing number of people leaving Christianity.
• The language of a "shifting center": Africa is often called the new "center" of Christianity. Zurlo states that the assumption that Christianity has a single center is itself contested.
• Limitations of the statistics: These figures count affiliation or self-identification. They do not show whether people actually believe or whether they attend church regularly.