As of 2023-2025 data, the global Catholic population is approximately 1.406 billion people. This reflects a growth of about 1.15% from around 1.39 billion in 2022 to 1.406 billion in 2023, according to the Vatican's Central Office of Church Statistics and the 2025 Pontifical Yearbook
. Key points about the Catholic population distribution and growth include:
- Africa has seen the most dynamic growth, with its Catholic population increasing from 272 million in 2022 to 281 million in 2023, representing about 20% of the world's Catholics
- The Americas hold the largest share of Catholics globally, approximately 47.8%, with Brazil having the largest national Catholic population at around 182 million
- Other significant Catholic populations are found in Europe (about 20.4%), Asia (11%), and Oceania (0.8%)
- The overall percentage of Catholics in the world population is about 17.4% to 17.7% as of the latest reports
Thus, the Catholic Church counts roughly 1.4 billion baptized members worldwide as of the latest official statistics in 2023-2025.
