More Christians now live in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else
Share of the world's Christians living in each region, 2020 vs 2010 (marker).
of the world's Christians lived in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020, up 6 points since 2010.
Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, ahead of Europe's 505 million.
Europe's Christian population shrank in a decade; North America's fell 11%.
the numbers
| Share of world's Christians (%) | 2010 (%) | Christians (millions) (m) | 2010 (m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 30.7 | 24.8 | 697 | 531 |
| Latin America-Caribbean | 24.1 | 24.7 | 547 | 530 |
| Europe | 22.3 | 25.8 | 505 | 553 |
| Asia-Pacific | 11.8 | 11.7 | 268 | 252 |
| North America | 10.5 | 12.4 | 238 | 267 |
| Middle East-North Africa | 0.6 | 0.5 | 13 | 12 |
source notes & method
Regional Christian counts and shares are derived from Pew's Appendix B (regional population × % Christian), then checked against Pew's text: SSA 31% (+6 pts), Europe 22% (−4), Latin America 24% (−1), North America 10% (−2), SSA 697m, Europe 505m, North America 238m. Pew's world total is 2.3 billion (28.8% of people) in 2020, 2.1 billion in 2010. Small rounding gaps vs Pew's headline figures.
Published 10 Oct 2026
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