SafekipediaCatholic Church by country
Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience
The Catholic Church is a big group of Christian people led by the pope in Rome. It has one main part called the Latin Church, also known as the Roman or Western Church. There are also 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. Each of these Eastern Churches is led by a patriarch or a major archbishop, but they all stay connected to the pope.
This Church has many parts all over the world, including thousands of local areas called dioceses and many different groups. It helps people by running schools, hospitals, and charities in many places. The Catholic Church is very important in supporting communities everywhere.
Methodology
Most numbers about how many Catholics there are come from the CIA's World Factbook or surveys by the Pew Research Center. In Latin American countries, numbers from Latinobarómetro are often used. In Germany and other German-speaking parts of Europe, the government keeps official lists because people pay a special church tax. This means the numbers are from real records, not just surveys.
According to The World Factbook and Pew, the five countries with the most Catholics are Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, United States, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country where everyone is a member of the church is Vatican City, followed by Timor-Leste.
There are about 1.279 billion Catholics worldwide as of 2026. The Catholics & Cultures project collects data on Catholic populations by country.
By country
By clicking on the arrow icons in the column headers, the following table can be re-ordered.
| Country | Total population | % Catholic | Catholic total |
|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan (details) | 30,000,000 | 0% | 0 |
 Albania (details) | 3,020,000 | 10% | 302,000 |
 Algeria (details) | 32,531,853 | 0.14% | 45,000 |
 Andorra (details) | 70,000 | 85.5%–88.2% | 61,740 |
 Angola (details) | 36,600,000 | 44.2% | 16,000,000 |
 Antigua and Barbuda (details) | 84,816 | 5.5% | 4,752 |
 Argentina (details) | 47,300,000 | 58%–62.9%–63%–63.3%–67.8% | 29,000,000–31,000,000 |
 Armenia (details) | 3,018,854 | 0.3% | 8,695 |
 Australia (details) | 25,380,000 | 16%–20.0% | 5,076,000 |
 Austria (details) | 9,197,000 | 49.6% | 4,557,000 |
 Azerbaijan (details) | 8,581,400 | 0.03% | 2,574 |
 Bahamas (details) | 330,000 | 12% | 39,600 |
 Bahrain (details) | 800,000 | 8.9% | 71,200 |
 Bangladesh (details) | 158,000,000 | 0.07% | 110,000 |
 Barbados (details) | 250,012 | 4.2% | 10,000 |
 Belarus (details) | 9,500,000 | 7.1% | 674,500 |
 Belgium (details) | 11,200,000 | 44% | 5,000,000–6,500,000 |
 Belize (details) | 334,000 | 40% | 133,600 |
 Benin (details) | 7,460,025 | 26.6% | 1,984,366 |
 Bhutan (details) | 2,232,291 | 0.06% | 1,339 |
 Bolivia (details) | 10,500,000 | 63%–70% | 7,980,000 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (details) | 3,531,159 | 15.19% | 536,333 |
 Botswana (details) | 1,640,115 | 4.9% | 80,365 |
 Brazil (details) | 203,080,000 | 46%–56.75% | 100,200,000–115,250,000 |
 Brunei (details) | 372,361 | 5% | 38,709 |
 Bulgaria (details) | 6,445,481 | 0.6% | 38,709 |
 Burkina Faso (details) | 13,925,313 | 20.1% | 4,121,536 |
 Burundi (details) | 12,000,000 | 58.6% | 7,000,000 |
 Cabo Verde (details) | 512,096 | 72.5% | 395,850 |
 Cambodia (details) | 13,607,069 | ||
 Cameroon (details) | 31,000,000 | 33.1% | 10,300,000 |
 Canada (details) | 40,769,890 | 21%–29.9% | 12,189,931 |
 Central African Republic (details) | 3,799,897 | 29% | 949,974 |
 Chad (details) | 12,000,000 | 20%–22.8% | 2,520,000 |
 Chile (details) | 19,764,771 | 45%–46%–53.7% (15+) | 10,611,000 |
 China (details) | 1,400,000,000 | 0.43%–0.7% | 6,000,000–12,000,000 |
 Colombia (details) | 52,000,000 | 56.6%–60%–70.9%–75% | 30,000,000–39,000,000 |
 Comoros (details) | 800,000 | 0.2% | 1,600 |
 Congo, Republic of (details) | 5,062,021 | 33.1%–52.9% | 1,675,529–2,409,661 |
 Congo, Democratic Republic of (details) | 109,000,000 | 45%–47.3%–55% | 49,000,000–60,000,000 |
 Costa Rica (details) | 5,100,000 | 47%–52%–62%–71.8% | 2,350,000–3,500,000 |
 Croatia (details) | 3,872,000 | 83.2% | 3,240,000 |
 Cuba (details) | 11,163,934 | 51%–60% | 6,000,000 |
 Cyprus (details) | 1,100,000 | 2.9% | 11,000 |
 Czech Republic (details) | 10,524,167 | 9.3% | 985,318 |
 Côte d'Ivoire (details) | 23,800,000 | 21.4% | 5,093,000 |
 Denmark (details) | 5,630,000 | 0.7% | 46,000 |
 Djibouti (details) | 476,703 | 0.2% | 953 |
 Dominica (details) | 71,540 | 58.1% | 41,564 |
 Dominican Republic (details) | 10,400,000 | 43%–57% | 4,992,000–5,928,000 |
 East Timor (details) | 1,054,000 | 97.57% | 1,021,000 |
 Ecuador (details) | 15,223,680 | 65%–69.5%–80.4% | 11,265,523 |
 Equatorial Guinea (details) | 1,620,000 | 80.7% | 1,410,000 |
 Egypt (details) | 107,000,000 | 0.2% | 200,000 |
 El Salvador (details) | 7,000,000 | 40%–47% | 2,730,000–3,500,000 |
 Eritrea (details) | 4,561,599 | 3.3% | 150,532 |
 Estonia (details) | 1,332,893 | 0.8% | 8,690 |
 Ethiopia (details) | 73,053,286 | 0.7% | 584,426 |
 Federated States of Micronesia (details) | 104,468 | 52.6%–55% | 60,000 |
 Fiji (details) | 893,354 | 9.1% | 80,401 |
 Finland (details) | 5,451,270 | 0.2% | 12,434 |
 France (details) | 66,600,000 | 36%–47%–48%–51%–57%–60% | 31,000,000–44,000,000 |
 Gabon (details) | 1,389,201 | 42% | 694,600 |
 Gambia (details) | 1,593,256 | 2.1% | 33,458 |
 Georgia (details) | 3,713,804 | 0.5% | 18,569 |
 Germany (details) | 83,550,000 | 21%–23.0% | 19,220,000 |
 Ghana (details) | 30,792,608 | 10.0%–11% | 3,079,261 |
 Greece (details) | 10,413,982 | 2.4% | 250,000 |
 Grenada (details) | 115,000 | 39.2% | 45,000 |
 Guatemala (details) | 15,773,000 | 39%–45% | 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% | 53,034 |
 Haiti (details) | 10,000,000 | 54.7%–56.7%–56.8% | 5,470,000 |
 Honduras (details) | 8,800,000 | 36%–46% | 3,256,000–4,048,000 |
 Hungary (details) | 9,877,000 | 29.2%–38.1%–53.0%–56%–62%–63% | 2,808,000–6,123,740 |
 Iceland (details) | 355,277 | 3.9% | 13,799 |
 India (details) | 1,400,000,000 | 0.9%–1.5% | 13,000,000–21,000,000 |
 Indonesia (details) | 270,000,000 | 3.12% | 8,424,000 |
 Iran (details) | 85,202,000 | 0.02% | 13,603 |
 Iraq (details) | 38,000,000 | 0.35% | 133,000 |
 Ireland (details) | 5,100,000 | 69% | 3,500,000 |
 Israel (details) | 7,746,000 | 1.2% | 92,952 |
 Italy (details) | 60,800,000 | 66.7%–69%–74%–75%–78.9% | 44,000,000–50,000,000 |
 Jamaica (details) | 2,697,983 | 2.2% | 59,356 |
 Japan (details) | 124,000,000 | 0.3%– 0.5% | 372,000–620,000 |
 Jordan (details) | 5,759,732 | 0.4% | 23,038 |
 Kazakhstan (details) | 15,185,844 | 0.6% | 91,115 |
 Kenya (details) | 47,560,000 | 20.6%–30% | 9,816,000 |
 Kiribati (details) | 98,000 | 55.8%–57.3% | 54,684 |
 Korea, North (details) | 22,912,177 | 0% | 0 |
 Korea, South (details) | 53,121,668 | 8%–11.1% | 5,914,669 |
 Kosovo (details) | 1,739,825 | 1.4% | 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% | 437,435 |
 Lebanon (details) | 4,800,000 | 28.8% | 1,382,400 |
 Lesotho (details) | 2,067,000 | 45.7%–49.4% | 946,000–1,052,237 |
 Liberia (details) | 3,482,211 | 5.4% | 188,039 |
 Libya (details) | 5,765,563 | 0.7% | 40,358 |
 Liechtenstein (details) | 40,000 | 69.6% | 28,000 |
 Lithuania (details) | 2,900,000 | 74.2% | 2,200,000 |
 Luxembourg (details) | 538,000 | 63.8%–65.9% | 369,600 |
 Madagascar (details) | 18,040,341 | 29.5%–38.1% | 5,318,293–7,890,000 |
 Malawi (details) | 17,563,749 | 17.2% | 3,028,435 |
 Malaysia (details) | 34,671,895 | 4.63% | 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% | 361,372 |
 Marshall Islands (details) | 62,000 | 8.4% | 5,208 |
 Mauritania (details) | 3,086,859 | 0.1% | 3,086 |
 Mauritius (details) | 1,237,091 | 26.0% | 324,811 |
 Mexico (details) | 130,000,000 | 67%–68%–69.4%–74%–77.7% 78% | 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%–82.3% | 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%–28.4%–30.5% | 5,270,000–9,900,000 |
 Myanmar (details) | 42,909,464 | 1.1% | 450,549 |
 Namibia (details) | 3,000,000 | 22.8% | 700,000 |
 Nauru (details) | 10,084 | 32.96% | 3,324 |
 Nepal (details) | 27,676,547 | 0.03% | 8,302 |
 Netherlands (details) | 18,000,000 | 16%–19.1%–20% | 2,900,000–3,448,000 |
 New Zealand (details) | 5,000,000 | 8.9% | 445,000 |
 Nicaragua (details) | 6,000,000 | 45%–50%–55% | 2,400,000–3,000,000 |
 Niger (details) | 11,665,937 | 0.1% | 11,665 |
 Nigeria (details) | 230,000,000 | 10.6%–16% | 24,400,000–29,000,000 |
 North Macedonia (details) | 1,836,713 | 0.4% | 6,746 |
 Norway (details) | 5,367,580 | 3% | 165,254 |
 Oman (details) | 3,000,000 | 4.1% | 110,000 |
 Pakistan (details) | 241,500,000 | 0.8% | 1,930,000 |
 Palau (details) | 17,661 | 46.0% | 8,124 |
 Palestine (details) | 3,761,904 | 2% | 80,000 |
 Panama (details) | 3,500,000 | 52%–63%–70% | 1,925,000–2,400,000 |
 Papua New Guinea (details) | 7,000,000 | 26% | 1,890,000 |
 Paraguay (details) | 6,800,000 | 72% | 4,900,000 |
 Peru (details) | 34,300,000 | 64%–67%–76% | 26,725,000 |
 Philippines (details) | 114,000,000 | 78.8%–80% | 89,000,000 |
 Poland (details) | 38,496,000 | 71.1%–92% | 27,332,000 |
 Portugal (details) | 10,343,066 | 80.2% | 7,043,016–8,260,000 |
 Qatar (details) | 863,051 | 10.5% | 350,000 |
 Romania (details) | 22,329,977 | 4.7% | 1,787,408 |
 Russia (details) | 143,500,000 | 0.5% | 717,500 |
 Rwanda (details) | 11,000,000 | 43.7%–49.5% | 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% | 35,084 |
 San Marino (details) | 32,500 | 85.5–90.5% | 28,000 |
 São Tomé and Príncipe (details) | 200,000 | 55.7–73.5% | 120,000 |
 Saudi Arabia (details) | 26,417,599 | 2.5%–3.8% | 660,439 |
 Senegal (details) | 11,126,832 | 3.5% | 389,439 |
 Serbia (details) | 7,120,600 | 6.1% | 433,167 |
 Seychelles (details) | 93,000 | 70%–76.2% | 70,866 |
 Sierra Leone (details) | 6,017,643 | 2.9% | 174,511 |
 Singapore (details) | 6,052,486 | 6.7% | 398,006 |
 Slovakia (details) | 5,450,000 | 55.8% | 3,038,511 |
 Slovenia (details) | 2,116,972 | 69.92% | 1,480,156 |
 Solomon Islands (details) | 523,000 | 19% | 100,000 |
 Somalia (details) | 8,591,629 | 0.001% | 100 |
 South Africa (details) | 60,000,000 | 6.8%–9% | 4,080,000 |
 South Sudan (details) | 10,000,000 | 39.7% | 3,950,000 |
 Spain (details) | 48,300,000 | 47%–54%–70% | 25,550,700–33,000,000 |
 Sri Lanka (details) | 20,264,000 | 6.1% | 1,237,000 |
 Sudan (details) | 31,000,000 | 1% | 300,000 |
 Suriname (details) | 551,000 | 21.6% | 119,000 |
 Swaziland (details) | 1,100,000 | 4.9% | 62,803 |
 Sweden (details) | 10,000,000 | 1%–1.8% | 180,000 |
 Switzerland (details) | 9,000,000 | 30.0% | 2,700,000 |
 Syria (details) | 18,448,752 | 2.1% | 368,975 |
 Taiwan (details) | 22,894,384 | 1.3% | 297,626 |
 Tajikistan (details) | 7,163,506 | 0.01% | |
 Tanzania (details) | 65,642,000 | 25.6–31.4% | 16,604,000–20,611,000 |
 Thailand (details) | 69,000,000 | 0.3%–0.58% | 388,468 |
 Togo (details) | 5,681,519 | 26.4% | 1,499,921 |
 Tonga (details) | 102,000 | 13.7% | 13,649 |
 Trinidad and Tobago (details) | 1,330,000 | 21.6% | 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% | 500 |
 Tuvalu (details) | 10,000 | 1% | 100 |
 Uganda (details) | 49,000,000 | 39.3%–45% | 19,200,000–22,000,000 |
 Ukraine (details) | 43,000,000 | 5.6%–10% | 2,408,000–4,300,000 |
 United Arab Emirates (details) | 2,563,212 | 5% | 128,160 |
 United Kingdom (details) | 63,100,000 | 9%–11% | 5,700,000 |
 United States (details) | 341,000,000 | 19%-20% –22% | 65,000,000–75,000,000 |
 Uruguay (details) | 3,500,000 | 33%–41%–47.1% | 1,330,000 |
 Uzbekistan (details) | 26,851,195 | 0.01% | 2,685 |
 Vatican City (details) | 842 | 100% | 842 |
 Vanuatu (details) | 243,304 | 13.1% | 36,500 |
 Venezuela (details) | 32,000,000 | 64.2%–71%–72%–73% | 20,000,000–23,360,000 |
 Vietnam (details) | 102,000,000 | 6.1% | 6,200,000 |
 Western Sahara (details) | 273,008 | 0.06% | 163 |
 Yemen (details) | 20,727,063 | 0.02% | 4,145 |
 Zambia (details) | 14,300,000 | 21% | 3,003,000 |
 Zimbabwe (details) | 12,746,990 | 7.71% | 982,792 |
| Total | 8,000,000,000 | 13.57%–17.68% | 1,085,600,000–1,420,400,000 |
By dependent territory
| Territory | Total population | % Catholic | Catholic total |
|---|---|---|---|
 U.S. Virgin Islands (details) | 109,840 | 34% | 37,345 |
 Anguilla (details) | 14,108 | 5.7% | 804 |
 Aruba (details) | 101,484 | 75.3% | 76,464 |
 British Virgin Islands (details) | 24,041 | 9.5% | 2,283 |
 Cayman Islands (details) | 68,811 | 13.6% | 9,348 |
 Curaçao (details) | 142,180 | 72.8% | 103,507 |
 Falkland Islands (details) | 3,000 | 10% | 300 |
 French Guiana (details) | 221,500 | 75% | 166,500 |
 Greenland (details) | 55,984 | 0.2% | 111 |
 Guadeloupe (details) | 405,500 | 85.2% | 345,486 |
 Guam (details) | 154,623 | 85% | 131,430 |
 Northern Mariana Islands (details) | 51,659 | 64.1% | 33,113 |
 Hong Kong (details) | 7,409,800 | 5.3% | 394,000 |
 Martinique (details) | 390,000 | 80% | 312,000 |
 Macau (details) | 650,000 | 4.6% | 30,000 |
 New Caledonia (details) | 249,000 | 60.2% | 150,000 |
 Puerto Rico (details) | 3,600,000 | 56%–85% | 2,000,000–3,060,000 |
 Réunion (details) | 839,500 | 79.7% | 669,249 |
 Saint Pierre and Miquelon (details) | 6,025 | 93% | 5,600 |
 Turks and Caicos Islands (details) | 22,352 | 11.4% | 2,548 |
 Wallis and Futuna (details) | 14,231 | 95.8% | 13,631 |
By region
These numbers show how many people in each area are Catholic. The first number tells us how much of the people in that area are Catholic. The second number shows how much of all Catholics in the world live in that area.
Africa
Americas
Asia
Europe
West Asia and North Africa
Oceania
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| 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% |
| Region | Total population | Catholic | % Catholic | % of global Catholic pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle East | 260,026,365 | 2,990,571 | 1.15% | 0.27% |
| Region | Total population | Catholic | % Catholic | % of global Catholic pop. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oceania | 30,686,468 | 7,747,654 | 25.24% | 0.72% |
Related articles
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