There are now more Catholics in Africa than Europe, says Vatican

A report published by a Vatican news agency has found that Africa now has more Catholics than Europe, with Europe now falling behind both the Americas and Africa for numbers of Catholics.

Agenzia Fides, the news agency for the Pontifical Mission Societies of the Vatican, released the comprehensive report ahead of the 100th World Mission Sunday just gone.

The report, compiled by Luca Mainoldi from the latest Statistical Yearbook of the Church, found that in 2024, the Catholic Church counted 1.422 billion members, making up 17.8% of the world’s population.

Between 2023 and 2024, Africa registered an increase of 7.58million Catholics, bringing the continent’s total to 288.312million, ahead of Europe’s 287.24million.

Africa’s Catholic population accounts for 19.9% of the continent’s approximately 1.4billion inhabitants.

It is the only continent where the number of women religious and major seminarians increased during the reporting period.

Europe saw an increase of 911,000 Catholics, accounting for 39.7% of the European population. However, the number of clergy and seminarians continues to decline.

The Americas is still the continent with the most Catholics, with 678.869 million which is 64% of the population, and added nearly seven million Catholics in one year.