There is no doubt that the Church is growing all over the world. In his four years as prophet, President Russell M. Nelson has announced 100 new temples, with 64 of those to be built outside of the US.
► You may also like: The number of temples in Africa is about to quadruple + 15 other temple stats
According to the blog “Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” here are the countries with the largest percentage increase in total number of Latter-day Saint wards or branches:
- Tanzania—62.5% increase
- Malawi—50% increase
- Zambia—30.8% increase
- Democratic Republic of the Congo—20.5% increase
- Mozambique—13.6% increase
- Kiribati—13.51% increase
- Liberia—9.43% increase
- Sierra Leone—8.86% increase
- Zimbabwe—8.75% increase
- Papua New Guinea—7.41% increase
The Church did not publish official congregational statistics for the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so these percentages reflect the increase in total number of Church units (wards and branches) by country from 2019 to 2021.
► You may also like: Here’s the 2021 statistical report: How does it compare with 2020?
You can see the entire list of the top 20 countries with the largest percentage growth—along with total number of new wards or branches established in each of these countries—and the top seven countries with the greatest decrease in total number of Church congregations here.
Editor's note: LDSLiving has verified these numbers for accuracy with Church Newsroom’s Facts and Statistics pages for 2019 and 2021.
