Worldwide Community
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a worldwide faith of over 17 million members in more than 30,000 congregations in 160+ countries.
About 60% of us live outside the United States. Here are the breakdowns by area:
- Africa: over 600,000
- Asia: over 1.2 million
- Central and North America: over 9 million
- Europe: around 500,000
- Oceania (Pacific): over 500,000
- South America: over 4 million
It’s clear that most Latter-day Saints are in the Americas. The countries with the highest number of us (in 2015) are:
- United States, almost 6.5 million
- Mexico, almost 1.4 million
- Brazil, almost 1.3 million
- Philippines, over 700,000
- Chile, almost 600,000
- Peru, over 550,000
Countries With Highest Percentage of Latter-day Saints
The countries with the highest percentage of Latter-day Saints are South Pacific islands:
- Tonga, 45%
- Samoa, 30%
- American Samoa, 23%
Distribution in North America
There are Latter-day Saint congregations in every state in the United States, but the bulk of us live in the West, with large populations in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, and California. There is a reason for this, which you will discover in my page about a few interesting Latter-day Saint facts.
More Facts and Stats
Here are a couple more.
- Between 50,000-80,000 young men and women serve each year as full-times missionaries at their own expense. They serve all over the the world—from Mongolia, to Nigeria, to Mexico, to headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- The Church’s religious education program for youth and young adults has enrollment of more than 400,000 in 160+ countries.
- Latter-day Saint Charities, a vast humanitarian aid program, provides around $1 billion annually in worldwide relief.
- Hundreds of thousand of folks choose to join us each year in following Christ. Add to that children born to Latter-day Saint parents, and you can see the church is a growing one.
You can find more info on the Church’s official Facts & Statistics page.
For more interesting tidbits about Latter-day Saints, read What The Heck Is A Latter-day Saint.
