WHILE the Roman Catholic Church is losing more members than it gains worldwide, Protestant Churches have experienced net gains, a new study of religious “switchers” suggests.
“Religious switching” refers to a change between the religious group in which a person says they were raised in childhood and their religious identity in adulthood. It does not mean formal conversion to a faith.
Christianity has experienced some of the biggest declines in followers overall, with many raised in the faith becoming religious non-affiliated or a “none”.
The Pew Research Center looked into the data of 24 countries to analyse the number of those switching into, out of, and between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
They found that, globally, Catholicism is losing members, and, in a number of countries, particularly in Latin America, the number of Protestants is growing.
In 23 of the 24 countries analysed, the numbers of Catholics is shrinking. In Poland, where 92 per cent of people were raised Roman Catholic, four per cent left the Church and only one per cent joined. In Spain, 34 per cent of adults have left Catholicism and just two per cent have joined. In the UK, seven per cent left and one per cent became Catholic.
Hungary is the only country in which more people became Catholic (five per cent) than left the Church (two per cent).
In comparison, Protestantism has seen real growth in some countries, with more people joining than leaving. In Brazil, 15 per cent of those raised in another faith or no faith have become Protestants, while six per cent have left. Net gains were also experienced in Peru, Colombia, and Argentina. Many of those becoming Protestant in Latin America were formerly Catholic, Pew researchers said, while those who leave a Protestant church are more likely to leave for no faith.
Ghana, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Mexico also experienced small net gains in the number of Protestants, again, largely owing to the number switching from Catholicism.
Sweden, the UK, and Germany are among the countries experiencing the largest net losses in the numbers of those saying that they are Protestant.
Even with global net losses, however, Roman Catholics still make up the majority of the population in eight of the countries surveyed. Just two countries have majority Protestant populations: Ghana (62 per cent) and Kenya (55 per cent).
Pew analysed data collected as part of the US religious landscape study of 2023-24, and international surveys in 2024, conducted as part of its Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, which analyses religious change and the impact of that change on societies around the world.