According to the 2026 Church Statistics report released by the Vatican’s Fides news agency ahead of World Mission Sunday, the number of Catholics has risen to 1.422 billion, indicating a worldwide rise by 16.69 million. The report also recorded a slight increase in the number of priests, while the number of women religious and major seminarians continued to decrease. Population and Catholic population data as published in the Church’s statistical yearbook refer to 30 June 2024, while the other data are as of 31 December of the same year.
Among all continents, Africa recorded the largest increase of Catholics, while it is also the only continent where both women religious and major seminarians registered an increase. America (+6.992.000) stands second followed by Asia (+968.000), Europe (+911.000) and Oceania (+239.000).
Meanwhile, the Americas remain the continent with the largest Catholic population: 678,869,000, representing 64% of the continent’s population. Africa stands second, surpassing Europe with 288,312,000 Catholics. Europe has a total of 287,240,000 Catholics. Asia follows with 156,166,000 Catholics, while Oceania has 11,557,000.
The number of priests has risen to 407,421, with an increase of 425 compared to previous data. Africa recorded the highest increase in the number of priests with +1,676, while Asia (+1,065) and the Americas (+199) followed. Meanwhile, there is a dip in the number of priests in Europe (-2,483) and Oceania (-32).