{"id":73541,"date":"2011-12-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2011\/12\/19\/global-christianity-exec\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T09:52:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T13:52:44","slug":"global-christianity-exec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2011\/12\/19\/global-christianity-exec\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Christianity \u2013 A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World\u2019s Christian Population"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Note (June 2025): Our new report \u201cHow the Global Religious Landscape Changed from 2010 to 2020\u201d includes revised 2010 religious composition estimates at the country, regional and<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>global levels. Refer to the 2025 report<\/a>, methodology<\/a> and <\/em>interactive table<\/em><\/a> for more detail.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 2.18 billion Christians of all ages around the world, representing nearly a third of the estimated 2010 global population of 6.9 billion. Christians are also geographically widespread \u2013 so far-flung, in fact, that no single continent or region can indisputably claim to be the center of global Christianity.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>A century ago, this was not the case. In 1910, about two-thirds of the world\u2019s Christians lived in Europe, where the bulk of Christians had been for a millennium, according to historical estimates by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.2<\/sup><\/a> Today, only about a quarter of all Christians live in Europe (26%). A plurality \u2013 more than a third \u2013 now are in the Americas (37%). About one in every four Christians lives in sub-Saharan Africa (24%), and about one-in-eight is found in Asia and the Pacific (13%).<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The number of Christians around the world has nearly quadrupled in the last 100 years, from about 600 million in 1910 to more than 2 billion in 2010. But the world\u2019s overall population also has risen rapidly, from an estimated 1.8 billion in 1910 to 6.9 billion in 2010. As a result, Christians make up about the same portion of the world\u2019s population today (32%) as they did a century ago (35%).<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This apparent stability, however, masks a momentous shift. Although Europe and the Americas still are home to a majority of the world\u2019s Christians (63%), that share is much lower than it was in 1910 (93%). And the proportion of Europeans and Americans who are Christian has dropped from 95% in 1910 to 76% in 2010 in Europe as a whole, and from 96% to 86% in the Americas as a whole.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the same time, Christianity has grown enormously in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, where there were relatively few Christians at the beginning of the 20th century. The share of the population that is Christian in sub-Saharan Africa climbed from 9% in 1910 to 63% in 2010, while in the Asia-Pacific region it rose from 3% to 7%. Christianity today \u2013 unlike a century ago \u2013 is truly a global faith. (See world maps weighted by Christian population in 1910 and 2010<\/a>.)<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are some of the key findings of Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World\u2019s Christian Population<\/em>, a new study by the Pew Research Center\u2019s Forum on Religion & Public Life.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study is based primarily on a country-by-country analysis of about 2,400 data sources, including censuses and nationally representative population surveys. For some countries, such as China, the Pew Forum\u2019s estimates also take into account statistics from church groups, government reports and other sources. (See\u00a0Appendix C [PDF]<\/a>\u00a0for more details on the range of estimates available for China.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christians are diverse theologically as well as geographically, the new study finds. About half are Catholic. Protestants, broadly defined, make up 37%. Orthodox Christians comprise 12% of Christians worldwide. Other Christians, such as Mormons and Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, make up the remaining 1% of the global Christian population. (See Defining Christian Traditions<\/a>.)<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Taken as a whole, however, Christians are by far the world\u2019s largest religious group. Muslims, the second-largest group, make up a little less than a quarter of the world\u2019s population, according to previous studies by the Pew Forum.3<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost half (48%) of all Christians live in the 10 countries with the largest number of Christians. Three of the top 10 countries are in the Americas (the United States, Brazil and Mexico). Two are in Europe (Russia and Germany), two are in the Asia-Pacific region (the Philippines and China), and three are in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia), reflecting Christianity\u2019s global reach.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clearly, Christianity has spread far from its historical origins. For example:<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n