Vatican News reports that “The Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics releases the 2025 Pontifical Yearbook providing details about the number of Catholics, consecrated religious, priests, and bishops throughout the world.” The statistics that are given in the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae go back to 2023.
Quick summary: Slightly higher number of Catholics globally (up 1.15% from 2022, from 1.39 billion to 1.406 billion), but fewer priests (a decrease of 0.2%). While the decrease seems insignificant (it amounts to a loss of 734 priests worldwide), it is part of an overall 12-year decline in worldwide priestly vocations, which is a very alarming trend.
In Africa, both the population and priestly vocations are on the increase.
Here is an excerpt from the Vatican News report:
Global Catholic population
The global Catholic population increased by 1.15% between 2022 and 2023, rising from approximately 1.39 billion to 1.406 billion, a percentage very similar to that of the previous biennium. The distribution of baptized Catholics varies in the various geographic areas, in accordance with the different demographics of each continent.Africa includes 20% of the Catholics of the entire planet and is characterized by a highly dynamic spread of the Catholic Church. The number of Catholics increased from 272 million in 2022 to 281 million in 2023, with a relative variation of +3.31%. The Democratic Republic of Congo confirms its first-place position for the number of baptized Catholics, with almost 55 million, followed by Nigeria with 35 million; Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya also register significant figures.
With a growth of 0.9% over the biennium, the Americas consolidate their position as the continents to which 47.8% of the world’s Catholics belong. Of these, 27.4% reside in South America (where Brazil, with 182 million, represents 13% of the world total and continues to be the country with the highest concentration of Catholics), 6.6% in North America, and the remaining 13.8% in Central America. When the number of Catholics is compared to the total population, Argentina, Colombia, and Paraguay stand out, with a Catholic incidence exceeding 90% of the population.
The Asian continent records a growth of Catholics of 0.6% over the biennium, and its weight in 2023 is around 11% of the global Catholic population. In 2023, 76.7% of Southeast Asian Catholics are concentrated in the Philippines, with 93 million, and in India, with 23 million.
Europe, while hosting 20.4% of the world Catholic community, confirms itself as the least dynamic area, with an increase in the number of Catholics over the biennium of just 0.2%. This variation, on the other hand, in the face of an almost stagnant demographic dynamic, translates into a slight improvement in territorial presence, which reaches nearly 39.6% in 2023. Italy, Poland, and Spain boast a Catholic incidence exceeding 90% of the resident population.
