There are 1.406 billion Catholics in the world. This data is taken from the Central Office of Church Statistics, which reports to the Vatican Secretariat of State. The new data corresponds to 2023 and shows how the increase in Christians worldwide has been 1.15% compared to the previous year.
The number has grown the most in Africa, where they went from 272 million in 2022 to 281 million in 2023.
The second continent where Catholics have grown the most is Oceania, with 1.9%.
In the Americas, where 47.8% of the world's Catholics are concentrated, the growth has been modest: 0.9%.
In Asia, the Catholic Church grew by 0.6%. This is where 11% of the Catholic world is located, most of it in the Philippines, where 93 million live, and in India, where, despite being a minority, there are 23 million Catholics in total.
The continent where the Church is growing the least is Europe, at 0.2%. It is home to 20.4% of Catholics.
The total number of ecclesiastical districts, including dioceses, is 3,041, and the number of bishops in 2023 was 5,430.
JRB
TR: GS
