How many Christians are there in the world?
Our answer might depend upon our context. If we attend a large church, work in a Christian business, and live in a town with a church on every corner, then we might think Christianity is in a majority. On the other hand, if we are part of a small church, work in a place with no believers, and live in a city with few churches, then we could think the world has fallen away from the Christian faith.
Truth and facts don’t depend upon our perspective, thankfully. Also fortunate, we in the West love to collect data on people and places. We even dig up old places to get more information. Therefore, we can view such statistics and discuss what they mean.
One additional note. For major sources, like the Most Popular Religions in the World 2025 data, researchers rely on self-identification for their numbers. People identified themselves as Christian, and even as subgroups of Christianity, such as Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and others. The researchers then gather the statistics from national censuses and surveys and organize them into global totals or estimates.
What Percentage of the World Identifies as Christian?
According to 2025 data, about 2.6 billion people identify as Christians worldwide, which comes to around 31.7 percent of the population. This 2.6 billion includes all major Christian branches—Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and others. With these numbers, Christianity is the largest single religion in the world.
Other recent research affirms the numbers from Most Popular Religions in the Word 2025. Pew Research and religion analysts agree that Christians make up approximately one-third of humanity. Pew’s numbers from 2020 are around 2.3 billion (28.8 percent) of the world’s population. Some differences occur among sources because researchers use various ways to gather and organize the data, but it remains overall consistent. Around 30-33 percent of people worldwide identify as Christian.
While we in the US or the West might think we have the greatest Christian presence, the data shows some eye-opening realities. For instance, areas like Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia now have the most Christians worldwide.
Which Countries Have the Largest Christian Populations?
The 2.6 billion self-proclaimed Christians live in several countries around the world. And as happens throughout history, the demographic makeup has changed dramatically over the past century.
1. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the United States leads all countries with the largest Christian population. According to estimates, the US has well over 200 million people identifying as either Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, or another Christian denomination.
2, Brazil ranks second. An enormous country with a high population, Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese and still has a large Catholic majority, although other denominations have increased within the country. The data places Brazil’s Christian population at around 170 million people.
3. Mexico follows in third place. It also has a deep Catholic tradition, and Mexico has over 100 million Christians, mostly Catholic.
4. Nigeria has the largest Christian population in Africa. Although the country also has many Muslims in the northern region, Nigeria’s Christian population exceeds 100 million people, as well, with mostly Catholic, Protestant, and unique indigenous Christian groups.
Beyond these four, other countries have significant Christian populations. Russia is home to tens of millions of Orthodox Christians, making it one of the top nations for Christians. Because of the influence of Catholic and Protestant traditions in the West, places like the US are not as familiar with Orthodox churches, though they are a major worldwide Christian expression.
The Philippines also claims a large number of Christians, especially Catholics. South Korea has a large number of Christians as well, while Buddhism still possesses a hold on many people there. Korea has a robust missions and prayer focus, as well.
Is Christianity Growing or Declining?
Christianity remains the largest religion in the world, both by population and percentage. The Bible teaches believers to evangelize and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and from our love for others, we desire all to have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Since Christianity doesn’t depend upon one culture, nation, or race, this has helped the Gospel spread around the world.
And we can’t be satisfied with having the most numbers. We want all people to enter the Kingdom through Christ.
Therefore, whether or not Christianity is growing or declining depends on how we measure it.
The total number of Christians has grown over recent decades. Worldwide demographics show Christians have increased from 2.1 billion (2010) to 2.3 billion (2020) to the 2.6 billion number today. Christianity has added hundreds of millions of followers, in large part due to population growth in Africa and the spread of Christianity in places like China and India.
If we measure by a percentage share, however, Christianity has been losing ground. Even though the number of Christians has increased, Pew Research data from the last 10 years show that the percentage fell from 30.6 percent to 28.8 percent. Other religions like Islam are growing faster than Christianity.
In most of Africa and parts of Asia, Christian populations are growing due to higher birth rates and a passion for the Gospel. However, in Europe and North America, people self-identifying as Christian or participating in church have either leveled off or declined. More and more people in the West identify as “religiously unaffiliated,” especially among the young.
What are the Major Branches of Christianity?
The total 2.6 billion Christians in the world counts many different traditions and practices. While the core beliefs may be similar, they vary widely in many ways. We consider these to be the three main branches of Christianity.
1. Roman Catholicism still ranks as the largest branch of Christianity, with 1.26 billion people in 2025. While challenged by the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, the Catholic church adjusted its approaches, became more missional, and tried to correct its abuses. These changes helped the Catholic Church continue to grow over the past few centuries across nations around the world. Catholics are united under the authority of the pope and share a long tradition of liturgy and the sacraments.
2. Beginning with the aforementioned Reformation, Protestantism is the second-largest Christian branch, with 625 million people in 2025. Protestants focus on the authority of Scripture and salvation by grace and faith alone instead of works. Since they broke away from the pope and Catholic tradition, different groups sprang up even at the beginning of Protestantism. Now various traditions are housed under the Protestant banner, each of them very different from the others, too—Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Anglicans, Reformed, and non-denominational.
3. As discussed earlier, in the West, we don’t have as much familiarity with the Eastern Orthodox tradition, but it makes up almost 295 million believers around the world. The Orthodox church started with a major split from the Catholics in the Great Schism of 1054, more than 400 years before the Reformation. Eastern Orthodox Christians practice a liturgical tradition, which they call the Divine Liturgy, and believe strongly in continuing the beliefs and practices of the ancient church.
Within these branches, large groups and movements are sometimes counted separately, like the Armenian or Coptic churches. Evangelicalism and Charismatic traditions have developed such a following and identity that they could be considered their own branch, as well.
What Does All This Mean for the Church Today?
These numbers have very important implications for the church today.
The overall number of Christians has grown in many parts of the world, which is good. To some degree, however, this growth reflects overall population growth in nations that still believe in large families. Some active conversion movements are at work, and we celebrate revivals and new believers. But we can’t solely point to the increase of numbers as a result of the Gospel.
At the same time, Christianity’s share of the global population hasn’t kept pace with other religions, like Islam. In some regions, like Europe and North America, Christian numbers are actually declining. These areas once boasted strong Christian growth. Yet the West continues to focus more on secularization and being nonreligious, especially among the young. The leveling off or decline causes concern.
What should we think about this? While we should see some signs as problematic, we must also view such decline as an opportunity. The Gospel still changes lives and transforms people and communities. Evangelism remains essential, even more necessary than ever. While millions have come to Christ, large areas of the world don’t have any real exposure to the Gospel. At the same time, while many self-identify as Christian, the decline shows a lack of passion for evangelism in those who supposedly believe, which is a discipleship issue.
Research also shows this fact: many people have never interacted closely with a Christian believer, even in places like Europe and North America.
Between the internet and growing ease of travel, Christians have more access to the world than ever before. Beyond natural resources, God has empowered us to spread his Good News. He alone can help us find new, creative ways to communicate the eternal, unchangeable Gospel of Jesus.
As Christ’s Body, we can’t rely upon demographic and birth rates to spread the Gospel. We must prioritize evangelism and discipleship together to share the Gospel, plant churches, and reveal Christ’s love in what we say and do in our contexts and communities. The Great Commission still calls all believers (not a select few or professional pastors) to take the Good News to the lost and broken world. Many need Jesus, and these numbers remind us why the mission of the Church still matters.
Peace.
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