Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Growth in 2025

Today, April 4, 2026, the Church published its 2025 Statistical Report. Key takeaways:

1. Total worldwide membership at year-end reached 17,887,212. The Church was organized April 6, 1830 in Fayette, New York. By the end of 1830, membership stood at 280. Membership increased every year thereafter until it reached 68,429 in 1854. Then from 1855 - 1857 a triple whammy of natural disasters in Utah (drought, grasshopper infestation, harsh winters), risky transportation (Perpetual Education Fund credit availability dried up, so ox-drawn wagon trains were replaced by human-powered handcarts. One result was the Willie and Martin tragedies where 200 immigrants died.), and political tensions (Utah War aka Buchanan's Blunder, Mountain Meadows Massacre) caused Church numbers to drop by about 20% in those 3 years (68K to 55K). Since 1858, the Church has seen uninterrupted growth as the chart below illustrates. As with all images on this blog, click to enlarge.

Church Membership 1830 - 2025

2. Global Church membership increased by 377,431 in 2025. This was the largest increase since 1999. This number comes from convert baptisms + new children of record - deaths - disaffiliations. Convert baptisms in 2025 were 385,490, an all-time high. Children of record added to the rolls in 2025 were 91,835 which is fairly modest by historical standards. Latter-day Saints, like others almost everywhere, are marrying later and having fewer children. The global death rate in 2025 was between 7.6 and 7.8 per thousand. The US death rate was 9.2 per thousand. The Church has a relatively young demographic, so we are probably justified in estimating a 2025 Church death rate of 5 per thousand which would have resulted in 87,500 deaths in the year. That leaves room for about 12K disaffiliations (excommunications and requests for name removal from Church records). The following chart shows the last 51 years of annual increases in Church membership. The high water mark was during the Ezra Taft Benson administration. The low water mark was the infamous Covid-19 year. 

Several decades of annual Church growth

Net increase in membership during the year

 3. A key metric is annual growth rate. 2025 began with membership at 17,509,781 and ended the year with membership at 17,887,212. That is a growth rate of 2.12%, the highest it has been since 2012. Here is the chart tracking 51 years of growth rates.

Church (blue line) and world (red line) growth rates by year

By any measure: total membership, annual increase, or growth rate, 2025 was a great year for the Church. Will the good news continue? This is what President Henry B. Eyring said on October 15, 2025: "I'll venture a prophecy. The growth of the Church will accelerate." President Dallin H. Oaks then added "I join in that prophecy!" President D. Todd Christofferson then added "Amen!"

All is not well in Zion, though. (2 Nephi 28:21). The Church is currently established in more than 160 countries and territories worldwide and 11 of those countries lost membership in 2025.

11 Countries that Lost Members in 2025

This list of countries with declining membership in 2025 includes the United States which is slightly disconcerting since historically the US has been the backbone of the Church (tithing faithfulness, multi-generational families, young people serving missions, etc.). Granted, the losses were not large, but any loss, especially in the breadbasket, is a cause for concern.

On a cheerier note, the list of the top 10 countries that added the most members in 2025 shows robust growth in Africa, Latin America, and Maritime Southeast Asia.

Top 10 Countries Where the Church Grew in 2025

Since I served my mission in Peru, I love to see strong growth in Latin America, but frankly, the lead story in 2025 was Africa where the Church is on a notable growth track.

Speaking of growth, these are countries with an outstanding membership growth rate in 2025.

Countries with Rapid Church Growth in 2025

It is thrilling to see 11 countries (including DR Congo in the previous table) wth double digit membership growth rates. May the kingdom of God go forth that the kingdom of heaven may come (D&C 65:6). 

Lifeway Research just published (May 2026) the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Church Profile (ACP) for 2025. This is how LDS (orange line) and SBC (blue line) total membership compares since 1975.

LDS (orange) Compared with SBC (blue) Global Membership 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is often compared with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). In the current millennium they have been similar in size. SBC is the second largest church in the US (12 million) after the Roman Catholics (75 million). The LDS are third largest (6.9 million US members) in the country. Both organizations trace their roots to the 1800's. Both are missionary focused. The SBC baptized 263K new converts in 2025, the LDS baptized 385K. The SBC reached membership apogee in 2006 and the two faiths crossed each other's membership trajectories in 2015. The SBC is primarily in the US, while only about 39% of LDS members reside in the US. Both groups receive about $10 Billion in annual donations (tithing) from their members. The SBC is headquartered in Nashville, the LDS in Salt Lake City.