New Pew Forum Study Estimates Global Christian Population at 2.18 Billion

Finds Stability in Percentage of Christians, But Large Shift in Where They Live 

Washington,D.C. — WithChristmas fast approaching, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion &Public Life published a newcomprehensive demographic report on the size and distribution of theworld’s Christian population. The study finds that there are 2.18 billionChristians of all ages in more than 200 countries around the world,representing nearly a third of the estimated 6.9 billion 2010 globalpopulation. Christians are so geographically widespread that no singlecontinent or region can indisputably claim to be the center of globalChristianity.

In 1910, two-thirdsof the world’s Christians lived in Europe (according to historical data fromthe Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell TheologicalSeminary in Massachusetts). Today, the Pew study finds, only about a quarter ofall Christians (26%) live in Europe (26%). A plurality — more than a third(37%) — now reside in the Americas. About one in every four Christians (24%)lives in sub-Saharan Africa and about one-in-eight (13%) is found in Asia andthe Pacific.

In the last 100years, the number of Christians around the world has more than tripled from historicalestimates of approximately 600 million in 1910 to more than two billion today.But the world’s overall population has also risen rapidly, from an estimated1.8 billion in 1910 to 6.9 billion in 2010. As a result, Christians make upabout the same portion of the world’s population in 2010 (32%) as they did acentury ago (35%).

This apparentstability, however, masks a momentous shift. Although Europe and the Americasstill are home to a majority of the world’s Christians (63%), that share ismuch lower than it was in 1910 (93%). The proportion of Europe’s populationthat is Christian dropped from 95% in 1910 to 76% in 2010, while the proportionof the overall population in the Americas (North America, Latin America and theCaribbean, combined) that is Christian fell from 96% to 86%. Over the sameperiod, however, Christianity grew enormously in sub-Saharan Africa and significantlyin the Asia-Pacific region, where there were relatively few Christians at thebeginning of the 20th century. The share of the population that is Christian insub-Saharan Africa climbed from 9% in 1910 to 63% in 2010, while in theAsia-Pacific region it rose from 3% to 7%.

These are some ofthe key findings of Global Christianity:A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population, whichprovides data on the world’s Christian population by region, country andtradition based on a country-by-country analysis of approximately 2,400 sources,including censuses and nationally representative population surveys. The studyis part of the Pew-TempletonGlobal Religious Futures project, an effort funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation to analyzereligious change and its impact on societies around the world.

Additional findingsinclude:

• Christiansare diverse theologically as well as geographically. About half are Catholic. Protestants,broadly defined, make up 37%. Orthodox Christians comprise 12% of Christiansworldwide. Other Christians, such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, make upthe remaining 1% of the global Christian population.
• Takenas a whole Christians are by far the world’s largest religious group. Muslims,the second-largest group, make up a little less than a quarter of the world’spopulation according to previous studies by the Pew Forum.
• Almosthalf (48%) of all Christians live in the 10 countries with the largest numberof Christians. Three of the top 10 are in the Americas (the United States,Brazil and Mexico). Two are in Europe (Russia and Germany); two are in theAsia-Pacific region (the Philippines and China); and three are in sub-SaharanAfrica (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia), reflectingChristianity’s global reach.
• Although Christianity began in the Middle East-North Africa, that region today has boththe lowest concentration of Christians (about 4%) and the smallest number ofChristians (about 13 million) of any major geographic region.
• AlthoughChristians comprise just under a third of the world’s people, they form amajority of the population in 158 countries and territories, about two-thirdsof all the countries and territories in the world.
• Nigerianow has more than twice as many Protestants (broadly defined to includeAnglicans and independent churches) as Germany, the birthplace of theProtestant Reformation.
• About90% of Christians live in countries where Christians are in the majority; onlyabout 10% of Christians worldwide live as minorities.

The fullreport, which includes a companion quiz,interactive maps and sortable data tables, isavailable on the Pew Forum’s website. 

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The Pew ResearchCenter’s Forum on Religion & Public Life conducts surveys, demographicanalyses and other social science research on important aspects of religion andpublic life in the U.S. and around the world. As part of the Washington-basedPew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy organization, the Pew Forumdoes not take positions on policy debates or any of the issues it covers. 

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