List of Countries with the Largest Christian Population (2023)

Christianity has been recognized as an important religion in the world. For believers, it is a way of life and practice for Christian worshippers across the globe. In Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Oceania, Christianity is the most common and widely practiced religion.

Christianity in some places is the second most popular religion , after Islam. Places like Indonesia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and West Africa practice more of Islam than Christianity.

However, the world’s largest religion by far in terms of population is Christianity. According to research, over 2.4 billion people worldwide identified as Christians in 2020, making about one third of the world’s population.
The Catholic Church, which has 1.3 billion faithful worldwide, is the largest Christian denomination, followed by Protestantism (900 million) and the Eastern Orthodox Church (220 Million)

There are Christians in more than 157 nations worldwide, with the United States having the largest Christian population. Following the United States are Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and the Philippines. Over 252 million Christians live in the United States, compared to 185 million in Brazil.

List of Countries with the Largest Christian Population in the World

In this article, I will be sharing a full list of countries with the most largest Christian population:

1. United States

Christians in United States

With 260 million Christians, the United States has the highest proportion of Christians in the world. Protestant Christianity accounts for 40% of all Christians, while 21% are Catholic and the rest are various denominations.

The percentage of Christians in the United States has decreased from 78% in 2010 to 70% in 2022, and studies shows that they may make up between 35% and 46% of the country’s population by the year 2070.

The majority of Christians in the US are members of Protestant Churches (46.6%), followed by Roman Catholics (20.8%), Mormons (1.6%), Orthodox Christians (0.5%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (0.8%), and other Christian groups.

2. Brazil

Christians in Brazil

With 185 million Christians, Brazil comes in second after the United States. The world’s largest country with a Catholic majority is Brazil. 26% of people identify as Evangelical, compared to 51% of Catholics. Another branch of Christianity, the Adventists, make about 2% of the population.

3. Mexico

Christians in Mexico

There are more than 118 million Christians living in Mexico. The population’s religious affiliations are divided as follows: 82.7% Roman Catholic, 1.6% Pentecostal, 1.4% Jehovah’s Witnesses, 5% other Evangelical churches, 1.9% other faiths, and 7.4% unspecified or atheist.

4. Philippines

Christians in Philippines

Christianity dominates in the Philippines, with over 90% of the population being Christians. Philippines was the largest Christian country in Asia and has the third-largest population of Roman Catholics in the world. Roman Catholics make up 80% of all Christians in the Philippines.

5. Russia

Christians in Russia

The Russian orthodox church is the primary representative of eastern orthodox Christianity among Christians in Russia, making Christianity the country’s largest and most well-known religion. More than 80% of people identify as Christian, 79% are Catholic, while 9% practice Protestantism, orthodoxy, Restorationism, and Independent Catholicism.

6. Nigeria

Christians in Nigeria

Nigeria has the greatest concentration of Christians in Africa, making up more than 40% of the country’s total population. Seventy-four percent of the Christians are Protestant, twenty-five percent are Catholic, and one percent belonged to other Christian groups, including a minor Orthodox Christian population.

Roman Catholicism, on the other hand, is a more pronounced Christian aspect in South Eastern Nigeria, although Protestant and locally cultured Christianity are extensively practiced in Western parts.

The Ibibio, Anaang, Efik, Ijo, and Ogoni areas in the south are both Roman Catholic and Protestant. The majority of the Igbos (who live in the east) and Ijaw (who live in the south) are Christians, with only 2% following traditional religions.

7. Democratic Republic of Congo

Christians in DR Congo

More than 8% of the country’s people identify as Christians, making the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) Africa’s second-largest Christian nation after Nigeria. Catholics make up 45% of Christians, Protestants make up 40%, and other Christians make up 10%. The Greek Orthodox Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and other Christian organizations are also present in DR Congo.

8. Italy

Christians in Italy

Catholicism is practiced by 83.3% of Italians. It gets fewer and fewer Italian believers attending religious services every year. There were almost six million fewer worshipers in 2020 than there were ten years earlier, with about 12 million citizens going to a house of prayer at least once each week. Over 75-year-olds were found to be the most pious, while those between the ages of 18 and 24 were found to be the least likely to regularly attend religious services.

9. Ethiopia

Christians in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which was brought to Ethiopia in the fourth century, is one of the oldest Christian organizations in the world. Although northern Ethiopia is where Christianity is most prevalent, the entire nation is affected by it.
With 36 million Orthodox Christians, the country has the second-largest Orthodox population in the world, behind Russia. 63% of the population of the nation is Christian, and 44% of them are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.

10. Germany

Christians in Germany

According to a survey conducted in 2021, 52.7% of Germans identify as Christians, making Christianity the most popular religion in the country. Catholics make up 26% of Christians, followed by Eastern Orthodox (1.9%), Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD) (23.7%), and other Christians.

Read More:

Countries with the highest number of churches

The Most Religious Countries in the World

Sources: Wikipedia, World Data