Christian demographics statistics at a glance
Christianity remains the world’s largest religious group, but the numbers show a more complicated story than simple size alone. The global total is still enormous, yet the share of Christians in the world has slipped while regional patterns have shifted sharply (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Here is the fastest way to read the dataset: the global Christian population grew, several regions added large numbers of Christians, and the biggest share declines came in places where Christianity was already a major majority faith. That combination matters because demographic size, population share, and regional concentration do not always move together (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Contents
- Global picture
- Regional patterns
- Country comparisons
- Where the share changed most
- Age profile
- What the dataset shows
Global picture
The headline figure is straightforward: Christians numbered 2,268,860,000 worldwide in 2020, or 28.8% of the world population (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
That total was not static. The global Christian population increased by 121,630,000 from 2010 to 2020, even as the Christian share fell by 1.8 percentage points over the same period (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
That split between growth in absolute numbers and decline in share is the core demographic story. It suggests Christianity expanded in step with global population growth, but not as fast as the world overall. In practice, that means a larger total population can still sit alongside a smaller proportion of the world.
Fast facts
- Christians numbered 2,268,860,000 worldwide in 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- Christians represented 28.8% of the world population in 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- The global Christian population increased by 121,630,000 from 2010 to 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- The global Christian share fell by 1.8 percentage points from 2010 to 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Regional patterns
Regional variation is where the numbers become most useful. Christianity is not simply “growing” or “shrinking” everywhere in the same way. Some regions saw strong population increases, while others saw declines in both absolute numbers and population share.
| Region | Christians in 2020 | Change from 2010 to 2020 | Christian share of regional population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 697,420,000 | +31.2% | 62.0% |
| Europe | 505,140,000 | -8.8% | 67.1% |
| Latin America-Caribbean | 546,920,000 | +3.1% | 84.6% |
| Asia-Pacific | 268,840,000 | +6.1% | 5.9% |
| North America | 237,630,000 | -10.8% | 62.9% |
| Middle East-North Africa | 12,920,000 | +9.5% | 2.9% |
The most important regional fact in the dataset is the size of sub-Saharan Africa. It had 697,420,000 Christians in 2020, and that population grew 31.2% from 2010 to 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020). That makes sub-Saharan Africa the clearest engine of Christian population growth in the table.
Europe, by contrast, had 505,140,000 Christians in 2020, but its Christian population fell 8.8% during the decade and its share of the regional population dropped from 74.6% to 67.1% (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Latin America-Caribbean still had one of the largest Christian populations in the world at 546,920,000, yet the share of the region that is Christian also fell, from 90.1% to 84.6% (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020). That is a useful reminder that very large Christian populations can still sit within regions that are becoming more religiously mixed.
Asia-Pacific and the Middle East-North Africa are smaller in Christian share, but they still matter because they show how Christianity is spread across regions with very different demographic bases. Asia-Pacific had 268,840,000 Christians in 2020, and its Christian share fell from 6.1% to 5.9% (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020). Middle East-North Africa had 12,920,000 Christians in 2020, with Christian share falling from 3.3% to 2.9% (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Regional takeaways
- Sub-Saharan Africa combined the largest regional growth rate with a huge base of Christians (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- Europe and North America both lost Christian population share over the decade (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- Latin America-Caribbean remained overwhelmingly Christian, even after a meaningful decline in share (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- Asia-Pacific and Middle East-North Africa had smaller shares, but both still added or retained large absolute Christian populations (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Country comparisons
Country-level figures show how concentrated the world’s Christian population still is. The United States had 217,270,000 Christians in 2020, Brazil had 168,300,000, Mexico had 113,070,000, the Philippines had 102,510,000, Russia had 102,350,000, Nigeria had 92,770,000, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had 92,400,000, Ethiopia had 73,230,000, South Africa had 51,630,000, and Italy had 48,210,000 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
These countries are not interchangeable. Some have very high Christian shares of population, while others have enormous absolute numbers but much lower shares relative to national population totals. That distinction is important if you are trying to understand influence, concentration, or future change.
| Country | Christians in 2020 | Christian share of population | Share of all Christians worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 217,270,000 | 64.0% | 9.6% |
| Brazil | 168,300,000 | 80.7% | 7.4% |
| Mexico | 113,070,000 | 89.2% | 5.0% |
| Philippines | 102,510,000 | 91.5% | 4.5% |
| Russia | 102,350,000 | 69.9% | 4.5% |
| Nigeria | 92,770,000 | 43.4% | 4.1% |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 92,400,000 | 96.3% | 4.1% |
| Ethiopia | 73,230,000 | 61.6% | 3.2% |
| South Africa | 51,630,000 | 85.3% | 2.3% |
| Italy | 48,210,000 | 80.5% | 2.1% |
The United States stands out because it combines the largest single-country Christian population in the dataset with a relatively lower share than many other major Christian countries. Christians were 64.0% of the U.S. population in 2020 and represented 9.6% of all Christians worldwide (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Brazil is similar in scale but different in composition. It had 168,300,000 Christians in 2020, Christians were 80.7% of the population, and Brazilian Christians made up 7.4% of all Christians worldwide (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Mexico and the Philippines are even more concentrated. Mexico had 113,070,000 Christians and an 89.2% Christian share of population, while the Philippines had 102,510,000 Christians and a 91.5% share (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo illustrate two very different forms of scale. Nigeria had 92,770,000 Christians, but Christians were 43.4% of the population. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had 92,400,000 Christians, yet Christians were 96.3% of the population (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
That contrast matters because it shows why absolute Christian population alone does not tell the whole story. A country can host tens of millions of Christians and still be religiously plural. Another can have a similar absolute count and be overwhelmingly Christian.
The 10-country concentration
The 10 countries with the largest Christian populations were home to 1,061,750,000 Christians in 2020, which was 46.8% of the world’s Christians (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
That means almost half of all Christians worldwide were concentrated in just 10 countries. The rest of the world had 1,207,110,000 Christians, or 53.2% of the world’s Christians (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
This is one of the most practical measurements in the dataset. It tells you that Christianity is globally distributed, but not evenly distributed. Concentration in a relatively small set of countries remains a major feature of the global Christian population.
Where the share changed most
The biggest percentage-point shifts help identify where Christianity is changing fastest as a share of population.
In 41 countries, the Christian share of the population changed by at least 5 percentage points from 2010 to 2020, and the Christian share declined in all but one of those countries (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Australia recorded the largest drop in Christian share, down 20 percentage points, and Christians made up a little less than half of Australia’s population in 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Chile’s Christian share fell 18 percentage points, while Uruguay’s Christian share fell 16 percentage points (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
The United States and Canada each saw a 14-point decline in Christian share from 2010 to 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020). That makes North America one of the clearest examples of a large regional Christian population with falling population share.
Mozambique was the only country with a substantial Christian share increase, up 5 percentage points, and Christians accounted for 61% of Mozambique’s population in 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
What these shifts imply
- Large share declines are not limited to one region; they appear across multiple continents (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- Declines can happen even where Christians remain the majority of the population (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- A rare share increase, such as Mozambique’s, stands out more sharply against the broader pattern of decline (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
Age profile
The age data adds another layer. In Asia-Pacific, Christians had a median age of 30.5 years in 2020, and in Latin America-Caribbean, Christians had a median age of 31.0 years in 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
These are not just descriptive numbers. They help place Christian populations inside the age structure of each region. In Asia-Pacific, Christians were younger than the region’s overall median age of 32.0 years (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
The comparison inside Asia-Pacific is especially informative. Christians were older than Muslims at 26.0 years and Hindus at 28.6 years, but younger than other religions at 36.2 years, religiously unaffiliated people at 38.1 years, Buddhists at 39.8 years, and Jews at 40.3 years (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
That means Christians in Asia-Pacific sit in the middle of a broad age spectrum rather than at either extreme. They are also demographically distinct from the region’s older religious groups and older unaffiliated population.
Latin America-Caribbean shows a different but related pattern. Christians there had a median age of 31.0 years, and they were the next-youngest religious group in the region after the religiously unaffiliated, whose median age was 28.4 years (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
A focused age snapshot
- Christians in Asia-Pacific had a median age of 30.5 years (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- Christians in Latin America-Caribbean had a median age of 31.0 years (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
- Roughly half of Christians in Asia-Pacific were 31 years old or younger in 2020 (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
What the dataset shows
The most useful reading of the statistics is not that Christianity is simply rising or falling. It is that the religion remains the world’s largest, continues to add people in absolute terms, but is losing share in many places where it has long been dominant (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
The numbers also show three structural realities at once. First, Christian population growth is heavily tied to sub-Saharan Africa’s large and expanding base. Second, Europe and North America remain huge Christian regions but with declining shares. Third, concentration in a relatively small group of countries still matters a great deal, because nearly half of the world’s Christians live in just 10 countries (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).
If you are comparing Christian demographics statistics across regions or countries, the biggest mistake is to look only at one metric. Population size, population share, regional concentration, and median age tell different parts of the same story. The dataset becomes most useful when those parts are read together (Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020).