Percent Latter-day Saints by Country in 2021 - Sub-Saharan

See below for a table that provides the percentage of Latter-day Saints by country in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is important to note that the percentage of Latter-day Saints in the population significantly decreased for some countries during the past couple years, even in some countries where the Church reports rapid membership growth. This is not primarily because of changes in membership growth rates during this time. Instead, it is due to new estimates for population totals that significantly increased compared to the prior estimates. Countries with an asterisk have estimated membership totals. These estimates were made based upon reports from local members, returned missionaries, mission presidents, news media, and other sources of information. The larger the number for the estimate, the more likely it is to be accurate.

Percent Latter-day Saints by Country in 2021 - Asia

I will be posting tables that display the percentage of Latter-day Saints by country with year-end 2021 membership data during the coming week. See below for the table for Asia. You can click on the table to make it larger. Membership is estimated for countries with an asterisk.

May 2022 Newsletter

 Click here to access the May 2022 Newsletter for cumorah.com.

Analysis of Latter-day Saint Membership Growth Trends in the United States

Andy Larson from the Salt Lake Tribune published an article today that has some excellent graphs and analysis of membership growth trends in the United States during the past four decades. I also did a podcast interview with the Salt Lake Tribune that was published last week where I discuss some of the trends with membership growth in the United States, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This podcast can be accessed here.

The Patience and Faith of the “Lost” Saints of Malemba-Nkulu

On May 17th, 2022, the following video was posted regarding the patience of prospective Latter-day Saints who have sought to have a Church presence established in the remote Malemba-Nkulu area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) since 1975. This video provides an excellent and well researched account of the Church's history in the DR Congo, video interview accounts from Congolese Church leaders, as well as the opportunities and challenges for the growth of the Church there. The information provided about the Church in Malemba-Nkulu is absolutely fascinating and inspiring as well as heartbreaking to see that the Church continues to have no official presence despite a second generation of would-be members of the Church now organizing, teaching, and learning the Gospel as best as they are able to do so despite its significant isolation from the nearest city with an official member group (Kamina). Most importantly, it highlights how the Church has achieved excellent member activity and convert retention rates in the country where it has established a presence, and it underscores the urgent need for the Church expand into additional areas of the country where many continue to wait for a baptism and an official congregation of the Church. As I noted last month, the Church in the DR Congo reported the most rapid membership growth rate in the world during the two-year period from 2019-2021 at 29.4% with a net increase of 44 congregations. There were 89,136 Latter-day Saints in the DR Congo as of year-end 2021. The current estimated population of the DR Congo is 108.4 million, indicating that only 0.082% of the population is a Latter-day Saint. The video noted in one map displayed that there is now a member group in the large city of Tshikapa which likely has a current population of nearly one million people. Finally, the video indicated that there are reports that many of the wards and stakes in Kinshasa will divide this summer to create many new congregations and stakes in the city to accommodate the major recent influx of converts.

April 2022 Monthly Newsletter

Click here to access the April 2022 monthly newsletter for cumorah.com. The newsletter archives can be accessed here back to 2012 - the year that we began to produce monthly newsletters.

Major Stake Realignment in Kinshasa, DR Congo

I have received a report that tomorrow, May 1st, there will be a major realignment of stakes in Kinshasa in what will probably result in the creation of more stakes. There are currently 11 stakes in Kinshasa. I will provide an update once I receive more information.

Membership by US State in 2021, Percent Membership Growth by US State for 2020-2021

State-specific membership figures for year-end 2021 are provided below. States and the District of Columbia are ranked in order for largest to smallest in regard to official Church-reported membership. States/Districts in bold do not have a temple announced or dedicated.

1. Utah - 2,161,526
2. California - 734,989
3. Idaho - 471,241
4. Arizona - 438,249
5. Texas - 371,007
6. Washington - 283,609
7. Nevada - 182,569
8. Florida - 164,558
9. Oregon - 151,151
10. Colorado - 149,007
11. Virginia - 96,748
12. North Carolina - 91,521
13. Georgia - 87,908
14. New York - 82,866
15. Missouri - 75,375
16. Hawaii - 74,858
17. New Mexico - 69,069
18. Wyoming - 67,454
19. Ohio - 63,007
20. Illinois - 56,535
21. Tennessee - 55,456
22. Pennsylvania - 52,149
23. Montana - 51,289
24. Oklahoma - 50,800
25. Indiana - 46,253
26. Michigan - 45,185
27. Maryland - 43,309
28. South Carolina - 42,902
29. Alabama - 38,845
30. Kansas - 38,640
31. Kentucky - 37,077
32. New Jersey - 34,163
33. Arkansas - 34,027
34. Alaska - 33,250
35. Minnesota - 32,863
36. Louisiana - 29,550
37. Iowa - 28,471
38. Massachusetts - 27,932
39. Wisconsin - 27,582
40. Nebraska - 25,055
41. Mississippi - 21,936
42. West Virginia - 17,179
43. Connecticut - 15,625
44. South Dakota - 11,297
45. North Dakota - 11,287
46. Maine - 10,987
47. New Hampshire - 8,967
48. Delaware - 5,595
49. Vermont - 4,655
50. Rhode Island - 4,283
51. District of Columbia - 3,136

See below for a list of states and the District of Columbia ranked in order by biennial membership growth rate for the two-year period of 2020 and 2021. The biennial membership growth rate is reported because the Church did not publish state-by-state membership statistics for the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 10 states with the most members in this list are indicated in italics:

1. South Dakota 6.48%
2. Arkansas 5.32%
3. Tennessee 4.79%
4. Missouri 3.93%
5. South Carolina 3.73%
6. Kentucky 3.32%
7. Oklahoma 3.20%
8. Alabama 2.86%
   
9. North Carolina 2.74% 
10. Florida 2.68%
11. Texas 2.48%
12. Idaho 1.98%
13. Wisconsin 1.68%
14. Utah 1.66%
15. Montana 1.46%
16. Mississippi 1.33%
17. New Hampshire 1.07%
18. Kansas 0.86%
19. Vermont 0.69%
20. Indiana 0.66%
21. Ohio 0.61%
22. Georgia 0.57%
23. Rhode Island 0.56%
24. Arizona 0.40%
25. Maine 0.26%
26. Virginia 0.26%
27. Michigan 0.25%
28. Iowa 0.24%
29. West Virginia 0.21%
30. New Jersey -0.03%
31. Louisiana -0.13%
32. Nebraska -0.17%
33. Hawaii -0.20%
34. Maryland -0.23%
35. District of Columbia -0.25%
36. Pennsylvania -0.27%
37. Massachusetts -0.39%
38. Wyoming -0.41%
39. New York -0.51%
40. New Mexico -0.56%
41. Illinois -0.62%
42. Delaware -0.69%
43. Alaska -0.73%
44. Colorado -1.00%
45. Nevada -1.16%
46. Minnesota -1.24%
47. Oregon -1.56%
48. Connecticut -2.01%
49. Washington -2.03%
50. North Dakota -2.28%
51. California -2.84%

Previous lists of membership growth rates by US state are available for 2017 and 2018.

UPDATED: List of the Countries with the Most Latter-day Saints without a Stake or District: April 2022 Edition

Each country or territory with at least 200 members without a stake or district is provided below with the number of members (as of year-end 2021), number of congregations (at present), and current, if any, affiliation with another stake or district.

1. Armenia - 3,537 members - 5 branches
   
2. Bulgaria - 2,395 members - 7 branches
3. Northern Mariana Islands - 897 members - 1 ward - part of the Barrigada Guam Stake
4. Greece - 792 members - 2 branches
5. Qatar - 700 members? - 2 wards, 1 branch - part of the Abu Dhabi Stake
6. US Virgin Islands - 589 members (2019 statistic)- 2 branches
7. Curacao - 575 members - 1 branch - part of the ABC District based in Aruba 
8. Turkey - 573 members - 9 branches 
9. Palau - 532 members - 1 branch - part of the Barrigada Guam Stake
   
10. Luxembourg - 523 members - 1 ward, 1 branch  - part of the Nancy France Stake
11. French Guiana - 482 members - 1 branch - part of the Guadeloupe District
    
12. Moldova - 448 members, 2 branches
    
13. Grenada - 396 members - 1 branch - part of the Kingstown St Vincent District
    
14. Saint Lucia - 394 members - 3 branches - part of the Kingstown St Vincent District
15. Kuwait - 359 members - 1 ward - part of the Manama Bahrain Stake 
16. Tuvalu - 335 members, 1 branch
17. Iceland - 331 members - 3 branches
18. Niue - 312 members - 2 branches
19. Gabon - 300 members?, 2 branches 
20. Laos - 300 members? - 2 branches 
21. Isle of Man - 299 members - 1 ward - part of the Liverpool England Stake
22. Saint Maarten/Saint Martin - 286 members - 1 branch - part of Lesser Antilles North District
    
23. Jersey - 281 members - 1 ward - part of the Poole England Stake
24. Antigua and Barbuda - 276 members, 1 branch - part of Lesser Antilles North District
25. Central African Republic - 263 members, 1 branch 
26. Martinique - 261 members, 1 branch - part of Guadeloupe District
    
27. Republic of Georgia - 258 members - 2 branches
28. Cayman Islands - 224 members, 1 branch - part of the Nassau Caribbean District
29. Malta - 223 members - 1 branch
    
30. Saint Kitts and Nevis - 212 members, 1 branch - part of Lesser Antilles North District
    
31. Kazakhstan - 205 members - 3 branches

Of these 31 countries and dependencies, 10 previously had a district including Bulgaria (2), Armenia, Greece, Curacao, Palau, French Guiana, Moldova, Turkey, Niue, and Iceland.

Congregational Growth by Country: 2020-2021

Below is a list of the countries where the Church reported a net increase of four or more units for the two-year period including the years 2020 and 2021. The Church did not publish official congregational statistics for the year 2020. The biennial percentage increase for the number of wards and branches for each country is also provided:

1. United States +217 (1.50% increase)
2. Democratic Republic of the Congo +44 (20.9% increase)
3. Nigeria +36 (4.99% increase)
4. Brazil +34 (1.59% increase)
5. Philippines +17 (1.37% increase) 
6. Ghana +13 (3.96% increase)
7. Cote d'Ivoire +7 (2.80% increase) 
8. Sierra Leone +7 (8.86% increase) 
9. Mexico +6 (0.33% increase) 
10. Mozambique +6 (13.6% increase) 
11. Papua New Guinea +6 (7.41% increase) 
12. Colombia +5 (2.01% increase) 
13. Dominican Republic +5 (2.55% increase) 
    
14. Kiribati +5 (13.51% increase) 
15. Liberia +5 (9.43% increase) 
16. Tanzania +5 (62.5% increase) 
17. Venezuela +5 (2.19% increase) 
    
18. Malawi +4 (50.0% increase) 
19. Zambia +4 (30.8% increase) 
20. Zimbabwe +4 (8.75% increase) 

The net increase in the number of wards and branches in these 20 countries totals 435; a larger number than the net increase in the number of wards and branches for the entire Church for the two-year period of 2020 and 2021 (375). Seven countries experienced a net decrease of four or more units during the two-year period of 2020 and 2021. Altogether, the net decrease in congregations in these seven nations totaled 55. 

1. Japan -10 (3.83% decrease)
2. Taiwan -10 (9.26% decrease) 
   
3. Argentina -9 (1.23% decrease)
4. Russia -7 (7.22% decrease) 
   
5. Armenia -6 (54.6% decrease) 
6. Uruguay -5 (3.73% decrease) 
7. Portugal -5 (7.46% decrease)

Previous lists for annual congregational growth by country are available for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.