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. |
2001 Est. |
Est. % of U.S. Pop., |
% Change |
|
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/ |
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 |
8,333,770 |
|
|
4 |
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
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
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