Church Releases Membership Totals For 2008 For Countries Around the World

The Church has released membership totals for 2008 worldwide much earlier than last year. These statistics can be found on the Church's website at

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/statistical-information

Click on MAP VIEW to see membership totals around the world. The number of congregations in each country is also provided.

Below I have a list of the 20 countries in which membership is increasing at the most rapid rates for 2008. I have already written posts about the countries in which Church membership is growing the fastest for 2006 and 2007. The first number to the right of the country name is the percent growth rate and the number to the right of that is the total membership of the country.

1. Guyana - 53.0% - 3,935
2. Uganda - 47.2% - 6,919
3. St. Lucia - 46.9% - 166
4. St. Kitts and Nevis - 162
5. Suriname - 24.8% - 1,057
6. Malaysia - 22.0% - 5,646
7. Martinique - 19.2% - 186
8. Benin - 17.1% - 253
9. Georgia - 16.3% - 178
10. Tuvalu - 15.9% - 131
11. Mozambique - 15.1% - 4,851
12. Madagascar - 14.6% - 4,769
13. Cameroon - 13.8% - 727
14. Antigua and Barbuda - 12.4% - 181
15. Slovakia - 12.1% - 139
16. Turkey - 11.6% - 221
17. Cyprus - 11.2% - 337
18. St. Vincent - 11.2% - 427
19. Namibia - 11.1% - 562
20. Guam - 10.9% - 1,874

For 2007 I also provided a list of the 10 countries with the largest membership increases. I would also like to provide that information for 2008, which can be found below. The number to the right of the country is the difference in membership between 2007 and 2008. The percentage to the right of that indicates what percentage of the worldwide membership growth of the Church in 2008 was found in that country. Overall membership increased by 314,510 members in 2008. About 77% of the membership increase in the Church last year was just in these 10 countries.

1. United States - 100,633 - 32.0%
2. Brazil - 41,403 - 13.2 %
3. Mexico - 36,343 - 11.6%
4. Philippines - 19,930 - 6.3%
5. Peru - 13,450 - 4.3%
6. Argentina - 7,895 - 2.5%
7. Chile - 6,006 - 1.9%
8. Honduras - 5,492 - 1.7%
9. Guatemala - 5,085 - 1.6%
10. Colombia - 4,810 - 1.5%

For more information about membership growth trends in countries around the world over the past several decades, I direct you to www.cumorah.com and check out the LDS Country Database. For more information about growth trends for the entire Church, check out this article at www.mormontimes.com.