2023 statistics are ready.
The Vatican’s yearbook Annuario Pontificio 2025 and Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2023 show that the number of Catholics worldwide grew by approximately 1.15 % between 2022 and 2023, reaching 1.406 billion. Growth occurred on every continent, with the highest percentage increase seen in Africa (+3.31 %), where the number of priests and seminarians also continued to rise. Asia also saw a rise in the number of priests, while Europe, the Americas, and Oceania experienced declines.
Africa now accounts for 20 % of the global Catholic population, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone home to nearly 55 million Catholics. The Americas remain the largest region (47.8 %), and Brazil alone has 182 million Catholics. In Europe, growth was nearly stagnant (+0.2 %), though the continent still accounts for 20.4 % of the Catholic population.
The number of bishops increased globally by 1.4 %, reaching 5,430 at the end of 2023. The most significant increases were seen in Africa and Asia. On average, each bishop serves 259,000 Catholics, but this number exceeds 330,000 in Africa and the Americas, while in Oceania it is only 87,000.
The total number of priests declined slightly (–0.2 %) to 406,996. In Europe, the number fell by 1.6 %, while in Africa it rose by 2.7 %. The regional distribution of priests remains imbalanced in relation to the Catholic population: Europe has 38.1 % of all priests but only 20.4 % of Catholics, while South America has 27.4 % of Catholics but just 12.4 % of priests.
The number of permanent deacons rose by 2.6 % to 51,433, with significant increases in Oceania and North America. Globally, there are 13 deacons for every 100 priests, but only one in Africa.
The number of male religious who are not priests, and female religious sisters, continued to decline. The number of sisters and nuns fell by 1.6 % to 589,423 at the end of 2023. The steepest declines were observed in Europe (–3.8 %) and North America (–3.6 %), while small increases were recorded in Africa and Southeast Asia.
The number of seminarians continues to decline globally. In 2023, there were 106,495 seminarians in formation, down by 1.8 % from the previous year. Africa was the only continent where numbers increased (+1.1 %). The regional distribution highlights the strong role of Africa (32.8 %) and Asia (28.6 %) in forming future priests, while the share is clearly lower in Europe and the Americas.
KATT / Vatican News