13 questions · direct answers · every figure sourced

Questions about global Christianity, answered

The questions people ask most about Christianity around the world — how many Christians there are, where the church is growing, where it is hardest to believe, and how much of the world still has no access to the Gospel. Each answer comes first, in plain words, with the working underneath.

All questions.

How many Christians are there in the world?About 2.6 billion people worldwide identify as Christian — roughly 32% of the world's 8.3 billion people, making Christianity the largest religious group on earth.Which country has the most Christians?The United States has the largest Christian population in the world — roughly 211 million people, about 62% of its population.Which countries have the fewest Christians?Afghanistan, Somalia and Morocco have among the smallest Christian shares on earth — well under one percent of the population.Where is it hardest to be a Christian?According to Open Doors' World Watch List, the hardest countries to follow Jesus are North Korea, Somalia and Yemen.How many unreached people groups are there?Of the world's 10,423 distinct people groups, about 4,490 — roughly 43% — are considered unreached, and 3,214 of those are frontier groups where fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus.What is the largest unreached people group?The Shaikh of South Asia — around 250 million people across Bangladesh, India and Pakistan — are generally counted as the largest unreached people group on earth.Where is Christianity growing fastest?Christianity is growing fastest in Sub-Saharan Africa, now home to about 718 million Christians — more than any other region.Is Christianity growing or declining?Both, depending on where you look.What is the largest religion in the world?Christianity is the world's largest religion, with about 2.6 billion adherents — roughly 32% of humanity.How many languages have the Bible?The full Bible is available in 756 languages, and at least some Scripture exists in 3,756 languages of the world's roughly 7,400.How many missionaries are there in the world?There are roughly 450,000 cross-cultural missionaries worldwide — people sent across a cultural or national boundary.How many people have never heard the Gospel?About 2.3 billion people have no meaningful access to the Gospel — no nearby church, no Scripture in a language they understand, no believing friend.What is the 10/40 Window?A mission-planning term for the region of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia located roughly between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude, where many communities have historically had limited Gospel access.