Joshua Bennett
Catholicism is the main branch of Christianity, and the Catholic Church is the largest church in the world. According to some sources, about 50% of all Christians are Catholics. However, this percentage varies depending on the source and the year in question. For instance, in 2023, about 22% of Americans were Catholic, while in 2007, 24% of the nation identified as Catholic. In 2025, the World Christian Database reported 1.272 billion Catholics, which is approximately 40% of the total number of Christians in the world.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Percentage of Christians that are Catholic | 50% |
| Number of Christians in the world | 2.3-2.6 billion |
| Number of Catholics in the world | 1.36-1.41 billion |
| Number of Catholics in the US | 19% of Christians |
| Percentage of Catholics in the US who attend religious services weekly or more | 29% |
| Percentage of people raised Catholic in the US who no longer identify as Catholic | 43% |
| Number of Americans who identify as Catholic | 22% |
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What You'll Learn
Catholicism is the main branch of Christianity
The Catholic Church has expanded more in the last 100 years than at any time in its 2,000-year history. In 1900, there were 267 million Catholics, which grew to 1.05 billion in 2000, and 1.36 billion today. This growth has largely taken place outside the western hemisphere, with Catholics now a significant minority in a religiously plural world. In the US, however, Catholicism is suffering the "greatest net losses" of believers compared to other religions. For every one person received into the Catholic Church, 8.4 individuals have left. This is partly due to religious switching, with 43% of people raised Catholic no longer identifying as such.
Despite these losses, Catholicism remains the largest branch of Christianity, with the second-largest group, Protestantism, estimated to have between 629 million and 1.1 billion followers, or between 24% and 40% of all Christians. Other estimates put the number of Protestants at 100 million, with 70-90 million Lutherans and 110 million Anglicans.
Catholicism's centrality to Christianity is also affirmed by its adherents, who believe that Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church, and that Catholic Christianity offers the world "the fullness of the Christian Faith".
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Catholic population growth
Catholicism is the main branch of Christianity, and the Catholic Church is the largest church in the world. About 50% of all Christians are Catholics. According to the annual directory of the Catholic Church, there were 1.39 billion baptised Catholics in 2022, and 1.4 billion in 2023. In 2025, the World Christian Database reported 1.272 billion Catholics. This does not include independent denominations that identify as Catholic, such as Old Catholicism, which number around 18 million adherents.
Over the past century, the number of Catholics worldwide has more than tripled. However, the world's population has also risen rapidly, and while the Catholic population has grown, its overall percentage of the global population has remained remarkably stable. This is due to differing rates of population growth in different regions. For example, the Catholic population of North America grew from 15 million (5%) in 1910 to 89 million (8%) in 2010. In the same period, the Catholic population of the Asia-Pacific region grew from 14 million (5%) to 131 million (12%), while the Middle East and North Africa, the ancient cradle of Christianity, are home to less than 1% of Catholics today, about the same as in 1910.
In some countries with large Catholic populations, the percentage of the population identifying as Catholic has declined over the last decade. For example, in Brazil, the country with the largest Catholic population in the world, the percentage of self-identified Catholics dropped from 74% in 2000 to 65% in 2010. In Mexico, the country with the second-largest Catholic population, the percentage of Catholics declined from 89% in 2000 to 85% in 2010. The United States is home to about 7% of the world's Catholics, with around a quarter of the population identifying as Catholic.
While the Catholic population has been declining in some countries, there are reports of increasing adult conversions in some US dioceses and in France. In addition, the number of self-identified Catholics in the US grew from 54.1 million in 1970 to 75 million in 2023, although this may be due to immigration.
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Catholics in the US
The percentage of Christians who are Catholic varies depending on the source and the timeframe. According to a 2004 survey, Catholics made up 17.5% of Christians in the US, while a 2001 study put the figure at 24.5%. A 2023 Gallup poll found that 22% of Americans identify as Catholic, making up 33% of Christians in the US.
Catholicism is the largest religious body in 36 US states, and the religion is growing fastest in the South and West. The average number of adherents per congregation is 3,000 for Catholics, which is unusually high compared to other groups. Large Catholic congregations are especially common in the West, with 4,700 Catholics per congregation.
The percentage of Americans who are Catholic has historically remained around 25%. However, there have been fluctuations, with a high point of 26% in 2008 and a low point of 21% in 2018. As of 2020, there were approximately 61.9 million Catholics in the US, about 18.7% of the population.
Catholics are the largest Christian denomination in the United States, with about three times as many adherents as the next two largest groups, nondenominational Christians and Southern Baptists. The growth of the Catholic population in the US has been concentrated in the South, which now has more Catholics than any other region. This shift may be due to the consolidation of congregations, as the number of Catholic congregations has decreased in recent years.
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Protestants vs. Catholics
Christianity is the largest religious group in the world, with an estimated 2.3 to 2.6 billion adherents in 2020. Catholicism is the main branch of Christianity, with about 50% of all Christians being Catholic. In 2025, the World Christian Database reported 1.272 billion Catholics. This figure does not include independent denominations that self-identify as Catholic, such as Old Catholicism and other forms of Independent Catholicism, which number around 18 million adherents.
Protestantism is the second-largest group of Christians by number of followers. In 2025, the World Christian Database reported 629 million historic Protestants and 409 million Independent non-denominational Pentecostals. Estimates vary from 0.6 to 1.1 billion, or between 24% and 40% of all Christians.
Protestantism encompasses a wide range of denominations that broke away from Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation. It emphasizes the individual interpretation of the Bible, salvation by faith alone, and a rejection of certain Catholic practices and traditions.
One key distinction between the two denominations is their attitude towards the Bible. Many Protestants believe that the Bible must be taken as it stands as the sole source of doctrine, whereas Catholics hold that the Bible has to be interpreted by the Church. This is known as "Sola Scritura". Luther, who questioned the authority of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, believed that the Bible was the sole source of Christian Doctrine, and that it was Faith in Christ that determined salvation, not any works that man could do.
Another difference is their attitude towards the sacraments. Catholics hold that the sacraments are ordained by God as a source of grace, whereas Protestants view sacraments such as communion and baptism as a commemoration and a declaration of membership, respectively.
Additionally, Protestants do not validate saints or believe in the Pope, whereas Catholics do.
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Independent Catholic denominations
The history of Independent Catholicism can be traced back to the 19th century when Joseph René Vilatte, an Old Catholic priest from Switzerland, brought the movement to North America. In 1892, Vilatte travelled to India, where he was consecrated by Mar Julius I of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. In 1915, Vilatte founded the American Catholic Church, which still exists today. Over the next 28 years, he consecrated several men who became the episcopal ancestors of a wide variety of descendants in North America.
The 20th century witnessed a significant shift as numerous clergy and laity moved from the Roman Catholic Church to the Independent Catholic movement. One of the most notable departures was the Czechoslovak Hussite Church (CHC), which was formed in 1920 by several thousand priests and laypeople who sought to establish an independent church.
Many Independent Catholic communities are inspired by the past and aim to create communities modelled after the New Testament. They often emphasize their connection to the broader Christian tradition and their continuity of faith with larger, historic churches like the Roman Catholic Church or Lutheran Churches. Virtually all members of the Independent Catholic movement have a strong commitment to the catholic sacramental tradition and worship according to prescribed liturgies derived from mainstream Christian rites.
Some Independent Catholic churches have joined the International Council of Community Churches, based in Loudon, Tennessee. This affiliation provides them with representation in national and international Christian organizations, such as Churches Uniting in Christ and the World Council of Churches.
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Frequently asked questions
About 50% of all Christians are Catholics.
There were 1.39 billion baptized Catholics in 2022 according to the Annuario Pontificio of 2024.
In 2023, about 22% of Americans identified as Catholic.
Christianity is the largest religious group in the world, with an estimated 2.3 to 2.6 billion adherents in 2020.
While formal religious affiliation and commitment are declining, the Catholic Church has expanded more in the last 100 years than at any time in its 2,000-year history. However, other sources state that Catholicism is seeing the greatest net losses of believers compared to other religions in the U.S.
