Estimated World Religious Membership Figures

“From the CIA World Fact Book on Religion”

There are about 6,250,000,000 people in the world today

 

Worlds Major Branches of Islam

Islam claims about 22.5% of the Worlds Population

Branch

Number of Adherents

Sunni

1,140,000,000

Shiite

220,000,000

Ahmadiyya

10,000,000

Druze

450,000


Worlds Major Branches of Christianity

Major Christian religions claim about 31% of the Worlds Population

Catholicism makes up about 21% of the Christian Religion estimate

Branch

Number of Adherents

Catholic

1,030,000,000

Orthodox/Eastern Christian

240,000,000

Conservative Protestant

200,000,000

Liberal Protestant

150,000,000

African indigenous sects (AICs)

110,000,000

Pentecostal

105,000,000

Anglican

73,000,000

Assemblies of God

32,000,000

 

Jehovah's Witnesses

14,800,000

Latter Day Saints

11,200,000

New Thought (Unity, Christian Science, etc.)

1,500,000

Friends (Quakers)

300,000

 

Worlds Major Branches of Judaism
(very rough estimates)

Judaism makes up about 0.22% of the World’s Population

Branch

Number of Adherents

Conservative

4,500,000

Unaffiliated and Secular

4,500,000

 

 

Reform

3,750,000

Orthodox

2,000,000

Reconstructionist

150,000

 

 

   Largest Denominational Families in U.S., 2001

Denomination

1990 Est.
Adult Pop.

2001 Est.
Adult Pop.

Est. % of U.S. Pop.,
2001

% Change
1990 - 2001

Catholic

46,004,000

50,873,000

24.5%

+11%

Baptist

33,964,000

33,830,000

16.3%

0%

Methodist/Wesleyan

14,174,000

14,150,000

6.8%

0%

Lutheran

9,110,000

9,580,000

4.6%

+5%

Presbyterian

4,985,000

5,596,000

2.7%

+12%

Pentecostal/Charismatic

3,191,000

4,407,000

2.1%

+38%

Episcopalian/Anglican

3,042,000

3,451,000

1.7%

+13%

Judaism

3,137,000

2,831,000

1.3%

-10%

Latter-day Saints/Mormon

2,487,000

2,697,000

1.3%

+8%

Churches of Christ

1,769,000

2,593,000

1.2%

+47%

Congregational/
United Church of Christ

599,000

1,378,000

0.7%

+130%

Jehovah's Witnesses

1,381,000

1,331,000

0.6%

-4%

Assemblies of God

660,000

1,106,000

0.5%

+68%

 

Top Ten Largest Religious Bodies in the United States

(Figures reflect U.S. membership only. A few of these religious bodies have significant numbers of members in other countries as well.)

Rank

Religious Body

Year

Membership

1

Catholic Church

1999

62,391,484

2

Southern Baptist Convention

1999

15,851,756

3

United Methodist Church

1999

8,333,770

4

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

2000

5,208,827

5

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

2001

5,099,877

6

Church of God in Christ

1991

 5,000,000

7

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

1999

3,561,184

8

National Baptist Convention of America

1987

3,500,000

9

Assemblies of God

2001

2,627,029

10

Islam

2001

*2,300,000

11

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod

2000

2,526,919

* Islam claims as much as 7,000,000 adherents in the USA, which would place the Muslim religion as the fourth largest religion in the US.

 

World Religions Chart from Religions Adherents