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CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican has released the latest official statistics on Catholics across the globe, revealing that the overall number of Catholics went from about 1.39 billion to 1.406 billion between 2022 and 2023.
However, the statistics also show that the overall number of priests is declining. It dropped by 734 from 2022 to 2023. Numbers of consecrated religious and seminarians have also continued decreasing in recent years.
The statistics come from the Pontifical Yearbook 2025 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2023, Vatican News reported. Data show that across the globe, Africa is responsible for much of the growth experienced in the Church between 2022 and 2023. In that year, the percentage of Catholics on the continent increased 3.31%, compared with 1.9% growth seen in Oceania, 0.9% in North and South America, 0.6% in Asia, and 0.2% in Europe.
The study found Brazil to be the country with the highest concentration of Catholics (182 million), which makes up 13% of the global total. Almost 50% of the world’s Catholics live in the Americas, especially South and Central America, where 41.2% reside.
Most Asian Catholics live in the Philippines or India, the data revealed, with Asia representing roughly 11% of the global Catholic population in 2023. Vatican News reported that although Europe represents just over 20% of the world’s Catholics and has several countries heavily populated by Catholics, it is the “least dynamic area.”
Vatican News also reported that across the globe between 2022 and 2023, “one ecclesiastical province was created; three episcopal sees were elevated to Metropolitan Sees; seven new dioceses were established; one episcopal see was elevated to an archdiocese, and an Apostolic Administration was elevated to a diocese.”
The number of bishops also rose slightly, by 77 (1.4%), as did the number of permanent deacons (2.6%), while the overall total of priests in Europe, Oceania, and the Americas fell. Africa and Asia experienced increases in priests.
Similarly, the numbers of consecrated religious brothers fell in the Americas, Oceania, Asia and Europe, while Africa saw an increase in both men and women religious. Southeast Asia was the only other continent that also saw a slight increase in consecrated women.
Data on seminarians once again showed Africa and Asia providing massive amounts of support for the global Church. The percentage of seminarians across the world decreased by 1.8% between 2022 and 2023, but Africa experienced a 1.1% growth and, combined with Asia, contributed more than 60% of the world’s total seminarians in 2023.
“The percentages of seminarians exceed those of Catholics in Africa (32.8% of seminarians compared to 20% of Catholics) and in Asia (28.6% of seminarians and 11% of Catholics). These continents thus tend to fully meet the need to autonomously sustain their local apostolate,” Vatican News reported, noting that Europe and the Americas have the issue of too few pastoral workers and seminarians to care for their Church communities.
