Global Expansion of Catholic Population
Global Catholic population keeps climbing, as reported by the Catholic news agency Fides, stationed in the Vatican. The data shows around 1.4 billion faithful followers presently.
Outside of Europe, the trend of growth is consistent across continents. This information was disclosed in anticipation of the upcoming Holy Year, scheduled for 2025 under Pope Francis' leadership in Argentina. This type of celebration takes place every 25 years.
As per these numbers, the Catholic count at the closing of 2022/23 stood at 1,389,573,000. This translates to a nearly 14 million increase compared to the preceding year. Intriguingly, Africa witnessed an uptick of 7.2 million Catholics, and the Americas saw an addition of 5.9 million. On the contrary, Europe experienced a reduction of approximately 474,000 believers due to retirements, demises, and fewer baptisms.
According to these figures, Catholics account for 17.7% of the world's total population. With Christianity as the leading global religion, followed by Islam and Hinduism, the United Nations (UN) estimates that the world's population presently totals about 8.2 billion individuals.
The Catholic Church's growth is not limited to Europe, as continents outside of Europe, such as Africa and the Americas, are also seeing significant increases in their Catholic population.
Given that Christianity is the leading global religion, with Catholics making up 17.7% of the world's total population, the rise in the Catholic population further strengthens the influence of the Christian faith on a global scale.
