SafekipediaCatholic Church by country
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
The Catholic Church is a large group of Christian communities united under the leadership of the pope in Rome. It includes the Latin Church, which is also known as the Roman or Western Church, and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. Each of these Eastern Churches is led by a patriarch or a major archbishop, but they all remain connected to the pope.
This global Church has many parts, including thousands of local areas called dioceses and different religious groups. It is especially active in providing education and health care around the world. The Catholic Church runs many schools, hospitals, and charities, making it a major force in helping people in communities everywhere.
Methodology
Most of the 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 based on these lists. This means the numbers are not just from surveys but from actual records.
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 at 100%, followed by Timor-Leste at 97%.
There are about 1.279 billion Catholics worldwide as of 2026, which is about 47.8% of all Christians. By the end of 2021, there were about 1.376 billion baptized Catholics according to the Annuario Pontificio. 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 percentages show how much of each region's population is Catholic. The first percentage tells us what part of the people living in a region are Catholic. The second percentage shows what part of all Catholics in the world live in that region.
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
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Catholic Church by country, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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