Catholic Church by country

The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome (the pope)."^[2] This communion comprises the Latin Church (the Roman or Western Church) as well as 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, canonically called sui juris churches, each led by either a patriarch or a major archbishop in full communion with the pope. Historically, these bodies separated from Eastern Christian communions, either to remain in or to return to full communion with the Catholic Church. The Vatican II decree on Eastern Catholic Churches, however, explicitly recognizes them as churches and not just rites within the Catholic Church.^[3] This communion "exists among and between the individual Churches and dioceses of the universal Catholic Church. Its structural expression is the College of Bishops, each of whom represents and embodies his own local church."^[4] In addition to Eastern Catholic Churches, the Catholic Church oversees the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the largest Charismatic movement of a single institution in 2020, with over 100 million members, primarily in the Global South.^[5] The Catholic Church is also described as an "amalgam of parts" (i.e., thousands of individual dioceses and religious orders) globally dispersed, but in communion with Rome.^[6]

Distribution of Catholics^[1]

The percentage of Catholics by country, 2010

The number of Catholics by country, 2010

• v
• t
• e

The Catholic Church is the "world's oldest continuously functioning international institution."^[7] It is also the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world,^[8] while the diplomatic status of the Holy See facilitates access to its vast international network of charities. These entities include 5,000 hospitals, 10,000 orphanages, 95,000 elementary schools and 47,000 secondary schools.^[9]

Methodology

Most of the figures are taken from the CIA's World Factbook^[10] or Pew Research Center surveys.^[11][12][13] In Latin American countries, Latinobarómetro is often cited.^[14] In Germany and other German-speaking regions of Europe, there are official membership statistics due to the fact that the government collects a church tax based on these membership lists. For this reason, statistics are not solely grounded on surveys based on self-identification. A baptismal certificate or other religious document is likewise secondary to church statistics.^[15] This method may explain the discrepancy between Pew's figures on Germany^[16] and the church figures.^[17][18]

According to The World Factbook and Pew, the five countries with the largest number of Catholics are, in decreasing order:

• Brazil
• Mexico
• Philippines
• United States
• Democratic Republic of the Congo

The country with the largest percentage of its population having membership in the church is Vatican City at 100%, followed by Timor-Leste at 97%.

According to the World Christian Database, there are 1.272 billion Catholics worldwide as of 2025, which constitute 48.1% of 2.645 billion Christians.^[19] According to the Census of the 2023 Annuario Pontificio ('Pontifical Yearbook'), the number of baptized Catholics in the world was about 1.376 billion at the end of 2021. The research initiative Catholics & Cultures compiles data on Catholic demographics, including from the Annuario Pontificio, by country.^[20]

Conflicting numbers can be found in 2013 research conducted by the Brazilian polling institute Datafolha. Its report states that the Catholic percentage of the Brazilian population over the age of 16 years is 57%,^[21] in contrast to the 64.63% published by CIA and the 68.6% of Pew. Also, the 2010 Mexican census showed this percentage to be 83.9%^[22] – against a 91.89% number in The World Factbook.

By country

By clicking on the arrow icons in the column headers, the following table can be re-ordered.

Catholic Church by country

Country	Total population	% Catholic	Catholic total
Afghanistan (details)	29,928,987	0%	0[23]
Albania (details)	3,020,000	10%[24]	302,000
Algeria (details)	32,531,853	0.14%[25]	45,000
Andorra (details)	70,000	85.5%[26]–88.2%[11]	61,740
Angola (details)	35,121,734	41.1%[27]–50%[28]–55%[29]–56.4%[30]–60%[31]	12,500,000–20,000,000[32]
Antigua and Barbuda (details)	84,816	5.5%[33]	4,752
Argentina (details)	47,300,000	62.9%[34]–63%[35][36]–63.3%[37]–66%[38]–67.8%[39]	29,000,000–31,200,000
Armenia (details)	3,018,854	0.3%[40]	8,695
Australia (details)	25,380,000	20.0%[41]	5,076,000
Austria (details)	9,197,000	49.6%	4,557,000[42]
Azerbaijan (details)	8,581,400	0.03%	2,574
Bahamas (details)	330,000	12%[10]	39,600
Bahrain (details)	800,000	8.9%[11]	71,200
Bangladesh (details)	158,000,000	0.07%	110,000[11]
Barbados (details)	250,012	4.2%[10]	10,000
Belarus (details)	9,500,000	7.1%[43]	674,500
Belgium (details)	11,200,000	44%[44]	5,000,000–6,500,000
Belize (details)	334,000	40%[45]	133,600
Benin (details)	7,460,025	26.6%[46]	1,984,366
Bhutan (details)	2,232,291	0.06%	1,339
Bolivia (details)	10,500,000	63%[36]–70%[47]–73%[38]–77%[48]	7,980,000
Bosnia and Herzegovina (details)	3,531,159	15.19%[49]	536,333
Botswana (details)	1,640,115	4.9%	80,365
Brazil (details)	203,080,000	56.75%[50]	100,200,000[51]–115,250,000
Brunei (details)	372,361	5%[11]	38,709
Bulgaria (details)	6,445,481	0.6%[52]	38,709
Burkina Faso (details)	13,925,313	20.1%[53]	4,121,536
Burundi (details)	12,000,000	58.6%[10]	7,000,000
Cabo Verde (details)	512,096	72.5%[54]	395,850
Cambodia (details)	13,607,069	<0.1%	<10,000[11]
Cameroon (details)	31,000,000	33.1%[55]–38.4%[10]	10,300,000
Canada (details)	40,769,890[56]	29.9[57]	12,189,931
Central African Republic (details)	3,799,897	29%[58]	949,974
Chad (details)	12,000,000	20%[10]–22.8%[59]	2,520,000
Chile (details)	19,764,771	53.7% (15+)[60][61]	10,700,000
China (details)	1,400,000,000	0.43%–0.7%[11]	6,000,000[62]–12,000,000[63]
Colombia (details)	52,000,000	57%[36]–70.9%[64][65]–73%[38]–75%[66]	30,000,000–39,000,000
Comoros (details)	800,000	0.2%[11]	1,600
Congo, Republic of (details)	5,062,021	33.1%[10]–52.9%[67]	1,675,529–2,409,661
Congo, Democratic Republic of (details)	109,000,000	45%[28][68]–47.3%[11]–55%[69]	49,000,000–60,000,000
Costa Rica (details)	5,100,000	47%[70][71]–57%[38]–62%[12]–71.8%[72][73][74]	2,350,000–3,500,000
Croatia (details)	3,872,000	83.2%[75]	3,240,000
Cuba (details)	11,163,934	51%[11]–60%[76][77]	6,000,000[78]
Cyprus (details)	1,100,000	2.9%[79]	11,000
Czech Republic (details)	10,524,167	9.3%[80]	985,318
Côte d'Ivoire (details)	23,800,000[81]	21.4%[11]	5,093,000
Denmark (details)	5,630,000	0.7%[82]	46,000
Djibouti (details)	476,703	0.2%	953
Dominica (details)	71,540	58.1%[11]	41,564
Dominican Republic (details)	10,400,000	43%[36]–48%[38]–57%[12]	4,992,000–5,928,000
East Timor (details)	1,054,000	97.57%[83]	1,021,000
Ecuador (details)	15,223,680	65%[36]–69.5%[39]–77.0%[38]–79%[48]–80.4%[84][85]	11,265,523
Equatorial Guinea (details)	1,620,000	80.7%[11]	1,410,000
Egypt (details)	77,505,756	0.1%	187,320[86]
El Salvador (details)	7,000,000	39%[38]–47%[87]–50%[48]	2,730,000–3,500,000
Eritrea (details)	4,561,599	3.3%	150,532
Estonia (details)	1,332,893	0.8%[88]	8,690
Ethiopia (details)	73,053,286	0.7%[10]	584,426
Federated States of Micronesia (details)	104,468	52.6%[89]–55%[90]	60,000
Fiji (details)	893,354	9.1%[11]	80,401
Finland (details)	5,451,270	0.2%[91][92][93]	12,434
France (details)	66,600,000	47%[94]–48%[95]–51%[96]–57%[97]–60%[98]	31,300,000–44,000,000
Gabon (details)	1,389,201	50%	694,600
Gambia (details)	1,593,256	2.1%	33,458
Georgia (details)	3,713,804	0.5%[99]	18,569
Germany (details)	83,550,000	23.7%[100]	19,770,000
Ghana (details)	30,792,608	10.0%[101]	3,079,261
Greece (details)	10,413,982[102]	2.4%	250,000[103]
Grenada (details)	115,000	39.2%[104]	45,000
Guatemala (details)	15,773,000	39%[36]–43%[38]–45%[105]–50%[48]	7,000,000
Guinea (details)	9,467,866	2.6%	246,164
Guinea-Bissau (details)	1,416,027	8.9%	126,026
Guyana (details)	746,955	7.1%[106]	53,034
Haiti (details)	10,000,000	54.7%[10]–56.7%[11]–56.8%[107]	5,470,000
Honduras (details)	8,800,000	36%[36]–37%[38]–46%[12]	3,256,000–4,048,000
Hungary (details)	9,877,000	29.2%[108]–38.1%[109]–53.0%[110]–56%[111]–62%.[112]	2,808,000–6,123,740
Iceland (details)	355,277	3.9%[113]	13,799
India (details)	1,400,000,000	0.9%[11]–1.5%[114][115]	13,000,000–21,000,000
Indonesia (details)	270,000,000	3.12%[116][117]	8,424,000
Iran (details)	85,202,000	0.02%	13,603
Iraq (details)	38,000,000	0.35%[11]	133,000
Ireland (details)	5,100,000	69%[118]	3,500,000
Israel (details)	7,746,000	1.2%[11]	92,952
Italy (details)	60,800,000	66.7%[119]–74%[120]–75%[121]–76.5%[122]–78.9%[123]–81.7%[124]	44,400,000–50,000,000
Jamaica (details)	2,697,983	2.2%[125]	59,356
Japan (details)	124,000,000	0.3%–[11] 0.5%[126]	372,000–620,000
Jordan (details)	5,759,732	0.4%[11]	23,038
Kazakhstan (details)	15,185,844	0.6%	91,115
Kenya (details)	47,560,000	20.6%[127]	9,816,000
Kiribati (details)	98,000	55.8%[10]–57.3%[128]	54,684
Korea, North (details)	22,912,177	0.01%	2,291
Korea, South (details)	53,121,668	11.1%[129]	5,914,669
Kosovo (details)	1,739,825	1.4%[130]	25,837
Kuwait (details)	2,335,648	8.5%	402,000
Kyrgyzstan (details)	5,146,281	0.1%	5,146
Laos (details)	6,217,141	0.6%	37,302
Latvia (details)	2,290,237	19.1%[11]	437,435
Lebanon (details)	4,800,000	28.8%[11]	1,382,400
Lesotho (details)	2,067,000	45.7%[11]–49.4%[131]	946,000–1,052,237[131]
Liberia (details)	3,482,211	5.4%	188,039
Libya (details)	5,765,563	0.7%	40,358
Liechtenstein (details)	40,000	69.6%[132]	28,000
Lithuania (details)	2,900,000	74.2%[133]	2,200,000
Luxembourg (details)	538,000	63.8%[123]–65.9%[11]	369,600
Madagascar (details)	18,040,341	29.5%[46]–38.1%[134]	5,318,293–7,890,000[134]
Malawi (details)	17,563,749	17.2%[135]	3,028,435
Malaysia (details)	34,671,895	4.63%[136]	1,570,000
Maldives (details)	349,106	0.02%	80
Mali (details)	12,291,529	1.5%	189,289
Malta (details)	428,000	82.6%[137]	361,372
Marshall Islands (details)	62,000	8.4%[10]	5,208
Mauritania (details)	3,086,859	0.1%[11]	3,086
Mauritius (details)	1,237,091	26.0%[138]	324,811
Mexico (details)	130,000,000	69.4%[139]–74%[39]–77.7%[140] 78%[141][142]	90,000,000–96,101,000–100,912,000–101,302,000
Moldova (details)	4,455,421	0.5%	20,494
Monaco (details)	38,000	77.8%[143]–82.3%[11]	30,000
Mongolia (details)	2,791,272	0.04%	1,116
Montenegro (details)	625,266	3.4%	21,299
Morocco (details)	32,725,847	0.07%	22,908
Mozambique (details)	19,406,703	27.2%[10]–28.4%[11]–30.5%[144]	5,270,000–9,900,000
Myanmar (details)	42,909,464	1.1%	450,549
Namibia (details)	2,030,692	22.8%[145]	344,202
Nauru (details)	10,084	32.96%[146]	3,324
Nepal (details)	27,676,547	0.03%	8,302
Netherlands (details)	18,000,000	17%[147]–18.2%[148]–20.8%[149]	3,060,000–3,740,000
New Zealand (details)	5,000,000	8.9[150]–10.0%[151]	445,000
Nicaragua (details)	6,000,000	40%[38]–50%[12]–55%[152][153]	2,400,000–3,000,000
Niger (details)	11,665,937	0.1%	11,665
Nigeria (details)	230,000,000	10.6%[154]–12.6%[11]	24,400,000–29,000,000
North Macedonia (details)	1,836,713	0.4%[155]	6,746
Norway (details)	5,060,000	2.4%[156]–3.02%[157]	120,900
Oman (details)	3,000,000	4.1%[11]	110,000
Pakistan (details)	241,500,000	0.8%	1,930,000
Palau (details)	17,661	46.0%[158]	8,124
Palestine (details)	3,761,904	2%	80,000
Panama (details)	3,500,000	52%[36]–55%[38]–63%[159]–70%[12]	1,925,000–2,400,000
Papua New Guinea (details)	7,000,000	26%[160]	1,890,000
Paraguay (details)	6,800,000	72%[36]–88.3%[161]–89%[48][38]	6,000,000
Peru (details)	34,300,000	64%[36]–74%[38]–76%[12][162]	26,725,000
Philippines (details)	114,000,000[163]	78.8%[164]	89,000,000
Poland (details)	38,496,000	71.1%[165]	27,121,000
Portugal (details)	10,343,066[166]	80.2%[167]	7,043,016–8,260,000
Qatar (details)	863,051	10.5%	350,000
Romania (details)	22,329,977	4.7%[10]	1,787,408
Russia (details)	143,420,309	0.5%[11]	717,101
Rwanda (details)	11,000,000	43.7%[168]–49.5%[169]	4,807,000
Saint Kitts and Nevis (details)	51,000	6.7%	3,400
Saint Lucia (details)	165,600	61.3%	101,500
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (details)	106,000	7.5%	7,950
Samoa (details)	179,000	19.6%[10]	35,084
San Marino (details)	32,500	85.5[170]–90.5%[11]	28,000
São Tomé and Príncipe (details)	200,000	55.7[171]–73.5%[46]	120,000
Saudi Arabia (details)	26,417,599	2.5%–3.8%[10]–7%[172]	660,439–1,300,000
Senegal (details)	11,126,832	3.5%	389,439
Serbia (details)	7,120,600	6.1%[10]	433,167
Seychelles (details)	93,000	70%[173]–76.2%[174]	70,866
Sierra Leone (details)	6,017,643	2.9%	174,511
Singapore (details)	6,052,486	6.7%[175]	398,006
Slovakia (details)	5,450,000	55.8%[176]	3,038,511
Slovenia (details)	2,116,972	69.92%[177][178][179]	1,480,156
Solomon Islands (details)	523,000	19%[10]	100,000
Somalia (details)	8,591,629	0.001%	100
South Africa (details)	60,000,000	6.8%[180][181]	4,080,000
South Sudan (details)	10,000,000	39.7%[182]	3,950,000[182]
Spain (details)	48,300,000	52.9%[183]–59%[184]–66.0%[185]–67%[186]–68%[187]–70%[188]	26,000,000–33,000,000
Sri Lanka (details)	20,264,000	6.1%[189]	1,237,000
Sudan (details)	31,000,000	1%	300,000
Suriname (details)	551,000	21.6%[190]	119,000
Swaziland (details)	1,100,000	4.9%[11]	62,803
Sweden (details)	10,000,000	1.8%	180,000
Switzerland (details)	9,000,000	30.7%[191]	2,700,000
Syria (details)	18,448,752	2.1%[10]	368,975
Taiwan (details)	22,894,384	1.3%	297,626
Tajikistan (details)	7,163,506	0.01%	<1,000[11]
Tanzania (details)	65,642,000[192]	25.6[193]–31.4%[194]	16,604,000–20,611,000
Thailand (details)	69,000,000	0.3%[11]–0.58%[195][196]	388,468[197][198]
Togo (details)	5,681,519	26.4%[11]	1,499,921
Tonga (details)	102,000	13.7%[199]	13,649
Trinidad and Tobago (details)	1,330,000	21.6%[200]	286,000
Tunisia (details)	11,000,000	0.2%	22,000
Turkey (details)	77,700,000	0.05%	35,000
Turkmenistan (details)	4,750,000	0.01%[201]	500
Tuvalu (details)	10,000	1%	100
Uganda (details)	49,000,000	39.3%[202]–45%[203]	19,200,000–22,000,000
Ukraine (details)	43,000,000	5.6%[11]–10%[204][205][206]	2,408,000–4,300,000
United Arab Emirates (details)	2,563,212	5%	128,160
United Kingdom (details)	63,100,000	9%[207][208][209][210]	5,700,000
United States (details)	341,000,000[211]	20%[212] 21%[213][214]–22%[215][216][217][218][219]–23%[220]–25%[221]	68,200,000–71,600,000–75,020,000–78,430,000–85,250,000
Uruguay (details)	3,500,000	33%[36]–38%[38]–41%[222]–42%[48]–47.1%[10]	1,330,000
Uzbekistan (details)	26,851,195	0.01%	2,685
Vatican City (details)	842	100%	842
Vanuatu (details)	243,304	13.1%[10]	36,500
Venezuela (details)	32,000,000	64.2%[39]–67%[38]–71%[223]–73%[12]	20,000,000–23,360,000
Vietnam (details)	96,208,984	6.1%[224]	5,868,748
Western Sahara (details)	273,008	0.06%	163
Yemen (details)	20,727,063	0.02%	4,145
Zambia (details)	14,300,000	21%[11]	3,003,000
Zimbabwe (details)	12,746,990	7.71%	982,792
Total	8,000,000,000[225][226]	13.57%–17.68%	1,085,600,000–1,420,400,000

By dependent territory

Catholic Church by territory

Territory	Total population	% Catholic	Catholic total
U.S. Virgin Islands (details)	109,840	34%[10]	37,345
Anguilla (details)	14,108	5.7%[10]	804
Aruba (details)	101,484	75.3%[227]	76,464
British Virgin Islands (details)	24,041	9.5%[10]	2,283
Cayman Islands (details)	68,811	13.6%[228]	9,348
Curaçao (details)	142,180	72.8%[10]	103,507
Falkland Islands (details)	3,000	10%	300
French Guiana (details)	221,500	75%	166,500
Greenland (details)	55,984	0.2%[11]	111
Guadeloupe (details)	405,500	85.2%[10]	345,486
Guam (details)	154,623	85%[10]	131,430
Northern Mariana Islands (details)	51,659	64.1%[10]	33,113
Hong Kong (details)	7,409,800	5.3%	394,000[229]
Martinique (details)	390,000	80%	312,000
Macau (details)	650,000	4.6%[230]	30,000
New Caledonia (details)	249,000	60.2%[10]	150,000
Puerto Rico (details)	3,600,000	56%[231]–85%[232]	2,000,000–3,060,000
Réunion (details)	839,500	79.7%[46]	669,249
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (details)	6,025	93%[11]	5,600
Turks and Caicos Islands (details)	22,352	11.4%[10]	2,548
Wallis and Futuna (details)	14,231	95.8%	13,631

By region

These percentages are calculated by using the above numbers. The first percentage, in the fourth column, is the percentage of the population that is Catholic in a region (number in the region × 100 / total population of the region). The last column shows the regional Catholic percentage out of the total Catholic population of the world (number in the region × 100 / world Catholic population).

Africa

Catholic Church in Africa

Region	Total population	Catholic	% Catholic	% of global Catholic pop.
Central Africa	83,121,055	37,353,218	44.93%	3.47%
East Africa	193,741,900	34,872,130	17.99%	3.24%
North Africa	202,151,323	2,369,490	1.17%	0.22%
Southern Africa	137,092,019	24,463,640	17.84%	2.27%
West Africa	268,997,245	36,152,847	13.43%	3.36%
Total	885,103,542	135,211,325	15.27%	12.57%

Americas

Catholic Church in the Americas

Region	Total population	Catholic	% Catholic	% of global Catholic pop.
Caribbean	24,364,622	19,062,198	78.23%	1.77%
Central America	42,883,849	32,317,384	75.36%	3.00%
North America	448,587,847	173,212,640	38.61%	16.11%
South America	371,363,897	299,570,011	80.66%	27.87%
Total	887,200,215	524,162,233	59.08%	48.75%

Asia

Catholic Church in Asia

Region	Total population	Catholic	% Catholic	% of global Catholic pop.
Central Asia	92,019,166	199,086	1.23%	0.01%
East Asia	1,528,384,440	13,853,142	0.90%	1.28%
South Asia	1,437,326,682	20,107,050	1.39%	1.87%
Southeast Asia	571,337,070	86,701,421	15.17%	8.06%
Total	3,629,067,358	120,860,699	3.33%	11.24%

Europe

Catholic Church in Europe

Region	Total population	Catholic	% Catholic	% of global Catholic pop.
Southeast Europe	65,903,464	6,562,775	9.95%	0.61%
Central Europe	74,591,476	56,787,176	74.8%	5.19%
Eastern Europe	228,118,665	9,702,334	4.25%	0.90%
Western Europe	381,458,905	211,466,942	55.43%	19.67%
Total	730,072,510	285,916,457	37.85%	26.37%

West Asia and North Africa

Catholic Church in the Middle East

Region	Total population	Catholic	% Catholic	% of global Catholic pop.
Middle East	260,026,365	2,990,571	1.15%	0.27%

Oceania

Catholic Church in Oceania

Region	Total population	Catholic	% Catholic	% of global Catholic pop.
Oceania	30,686,468	7,747,654	25.24%	0.72%

See also

• Catholicism portal
• Christianity portal

• The term Roman Catholic
• All pages with titles containing Roman Catholic
• Christianity by country
• List of Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
• List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
• List of Christian denominations by number of members
• List of current cardinals (sortable by name, country, and birthdate)
• List of popes
• List of religious populations
• State religion#Roman Catholicism
• Eastern Catholic Churches