The number of Catholics thus rose to one billion and 345 million, equal to 17.7% of the world population.
The geographical analysis shows an increase of:
3.4% in Africa;
1.3% in Asia;
1.1% in Oceania;
0.84% in America.
On the contrary, in Europe there has been a slight decline.
The number of priests is growing; in total there are 414,336, 271 more priests. However, priestly vocations are decreasing, with a decline of 1.6%.
Permanent deacons increase by 1.5%.
Complete statistics are available on Vatican News
