World Touch
CATHOLIC POPULATION: Number of Catholics is Growing
The number of Catholics in the world is increasing: almost 1.3 billion, 17.7 percent of the world’s population of 7.6 billion inhabitants. According to figures from the Church’s Book of Statistics (data related to 2015), the baptized are 12.5 million more than the previous year (2014).
PUBLISHED ON
Jan 2018This data was published by Agenzia Fides in a special dossier on the occasion of World Mission Day, which was celebrated on October 22, 2017. The dossier offers a wealth of statistical information about the Catholic Church around the world.
A few statistics of interest:
Africa has 222 million Catholics, 19.42 percent of the world’s population. The Americas have 635 million Catholics, 63.6 percent of the population. Europe has 285 million Catholics, 39.87 percent of the population. Asia has 141 million Catholics, 3.24 percent of the population.
The Catholic Church runs 216,548 schools in the world, attended by more than 60 million pupils.
There are about 118,000 Catholic social and charitable institutions (hospitals, care homes for people with leprosy, orphanages, homes for the elderly) scattered throughout the world.