There are more than 900 million Protestants worldwide, among
approximately 2.4 billion Christians. In 2010, a total of more than 800 million
included 300 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 260 million in the Americas, 140
million in Asia-Pacific region, 100 million in Europe and 2 million in
Middle East-North Africa. Protestants account for nearly forty percent of
Christians worldwide and more than one tenth of the total human population.
Various estimates put the percentage of Protestants in relation to the total
number of world's Christians at 33%, 36%, 36.7%, and 40%, while in relation
to the world's population at 11.6% and 13%.
In European countries which were most profoundly influenced by the
Reformation, Protestantism still remains the most practiced religion. These
include the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom. In other historical
Protestant strongholds such as Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia,
Estonia and Hungary, it remains one of the most popular religions. Although
Czech Republic was the site of one of the most significant pre-reformation
movements, there are only few Protestant adherents; mainly due to historical
reasons like persecution of Protestants by the Catholic Habsburgs, restrictions
during the Communist rule, and also the ongoing secularization. Over the last
several decades, religious practice has been declining as secularization has
increased. According to a 2012 study about Religiosity in the European Union
in 2012 by Eurobarometer, Protestants made up 12% of the EU population.
According to Pew Research Center, Protestants constituted nearly one fifth
of the continent's Christian population in 2010. Clarke and Beyer estimate that
Protestants constituted 15% of all Europeans in 2009, while Noll claims
that less than 12% of them lived in Europe in 2010.
Changes in worldwide Protestantism over the last century have been significant.
Since 1900, Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, Oceania and
Latin America. That caused Protestantism to be called a primarily non-Western
religion. Much of the growth has occurred after World War II, when
decolonization of Africa and abolition of various restrictions against
Protestants in Latin American countries occurred. According to one source,
Protestants constituted respectively 2.5%, 2%, 0.5% of Latin Americans,
Africans and Asians. In 2000, percentage of Protestants on mentioned continents
was 17%, more than 27% and 5.5%, respectively. According to Mark A. Noll,
79% of Anglicans lived in the United Kingdom in 1910, while most of the
remainder was found in the United States and across the British Commonwealth. By
2010, 59% of Anglicans were found in Africa. China is home to world's largest
Protestant minority. Protestantism is growing in Africa,
Asia, Latin America, and Oceania, while remaining stable or declining in Anglo
America and Europe, with some exceptions such as France, where it was eradicated
after the abolition of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau and
the following persecution of Huguenots, but now is claimed to be stable in
number or even growing slightly. According to some, Russia is another
country to see a Protestant revival. In 2010, the largest Protestant
denominational families were historically Pentecostal denominations,
Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, United and uniting churches, Presbyterian or
Reformed, Methodist, Adventist, Congregationalist, Brethren, The
Salvation Army and Moravian. Other denominations accounted for 38.2% of
Protestants. United States is home to approximately
20% of Protestants. According to a 2012 study, Protestant share of U.S.
population dropped to 48%, thus ending its status as religion of the majority
for the first time. The decline is attributed mainly to the dropping
membership of the Mainline Protestant churches, while Evangelical Protestant
and Black churches are relatively stable or continue to grow.
According to Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United State, a review
of American Nobel prizes winners awarded between 1901 and 1972 by Harriet
Zuckerman, 72% of American Nobel Prize Laureates came from Protestant
backgrounds. Overall, Protestants have won a total of 84.2% of all the American
Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, 60% in Medicine, 58.6% in Physics, between 1901
and 1972. By 2050, Protestantism is projected to
rise to slightly more than half of the world's total Christian population.
According to other experts such as Hans J. Hillerbrand, Protestants will be as
numerous as Catholics. According to Mark Jürgensmeyer of the
University of California, popular Protestantism is the most dynamic
religious movement in the contemporary world, alongside the resurgent Islam.
Methodology For the purposes of this list, the
following Christian branches are considered Protestant:
Adventists Anabaptists
Anglicans Baptists
Calvinists Lutherans
Methodists Pentecostals
Evangelicals Other Protestants
Amish, Hutterites, Mennonites, Hussites, Brethren, Free Evangelicals,
Waldensians, Quakers, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Presbyterians,
United and Holiness are all regarded as subgroups of the previously listed
denominational families of Protestantism.
Estimates of total Protestant population vary considerably. Most reliable sources
claim a range of 800 million to more than 1 billion. Difficulties occur as
there is no consensus among scholars which denominations should be considered
Protestant, and which not. Countries
By region The following are summary tables of the
numbers and percentages of Protestants in each region. Also included are the
percentages of Protestants in the world that reside in that region.
Top sixty countries by number and percentage of Protestants
See also Christianity by country
List of Christian denominations by number of members
Roman Catholicism by country Orthodoxy by country
Christianity by country Other religions:
Buddhism by country Hinduism by country
Islam by country Jews by country
No Faith by Country Bahá'í statistics
General: List of religious populations
Notes References