Significant Growth in the Africa South Area

Recent statistics indicate that rapid growth is currently occurring in the Africa South Area. A recent video posted on YouTube by the Africa South Area Presidency disclosed a wide range of internal growth metrics that are not typically shared publicly, making the scope and level of transparency in this data release highly unusual for the Church. As with all internally reported Church data, these figures reflect operational metrics shared by area leadership and are not independently audited. The following statistics were shared as percentage increases from the third quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025:

• Sacrament Meeting Attendance: +21% 
• BYU-Pathway Enrollment: +41% 
• Ministering Interviews: +21% 
• Lessons with a Member Present: +24% 
• Convert Baptisms: +13% 
• New Converts Attending Sacrament (Year-to-Date): +26% 
• Seminary and Institute Enrollment: +32% 
• Missionaries Serving from the Africa South Area: +45% 
• Members Holding a Current Temple Recommend: +17% 
• Members Submitting Names for Temple Work: +22%

These are impressive numbers considering the Church reported approximately 202,000 members in the Africa South Area as of year-end 2024. Additional statistics were also shared in the video, including:

• More than 20,000 converts baptized during 2025 (as of mid-November 2025)
• Increasing numbers of applications received for full-time missionary service. Total number of applications received by year were reported as follows:
• 2023: 940
• 2024: 1,441
• 2025: 1,277 (as of mid-November)

The video also noted that 12 new stakes are currently in application or submission process, including:

• Antananarivo Madagascar (4th stake)
• Luveve Zimbabwe Stake
• Harare Zimbabwe (7th stake)
• Gweru Zimbabwe Stake
• Nampula Mozambique (2nd stake)
• Maputo Mozambique (4th stake)
• Harare Zimbabwe (8th stake)
• Ndola Zambia Stake
• Kadoma Zimbabwe Stake
• Mbabane eSwatini Stake
• Gqeberha South Africa Stake
• Soweto South Africa Stake 

Finally, the devotional video also reported that the first full-time missionaries have been assigned to the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe (population: 210,000). The first convert baptisms, the dedication of the country for missionary work by Elder Ronald A. Rasband, and the organization of a member group also recently occurred. 

Analysis

These metrics are highly encouraging and unusual for several reasons. First, the Church has achieved rapid growth despite a membership base of approximately 200,000. Rarely does the Church achieve double-digit percentage growth in the twenty-first century for any metric once membership becomes this large. Second, growth appears to be well distributed across the area which stretches from Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique in the north, to South Africa in the south, and Madagascar, Reunion, and Mauritius to the east. New stakes are slated for organization in all countries with at least 10,000 members, and several districts are planned to become stakes (including the first in eSwatini and the second in Zambia). With the implementation of heightened standards for new stakes to be created outside of North America in 2024, the planned creation of these new stakes signals strong leadership development and member activity. Third, the number of missionaries serving from the Africa South Area is up nearly 50% in a single year time span. Unprecedented success in missionary workshops the area has organized to encourage young single adults to serve full-time missions has appeared to drive much of this growth. Returned missionaries are an invaluable resource for staffing leadership, and increasing numbers of local members serving full-time missions helps improve the self-sufficiency of missionary operations in the Africa South Area. Fourth, growth metrics tracking missionary, temple and family history work, member activity, and seminary and institute enrollment are all consistently higher by 13% or more during this 1-year period. High growth areas of the Church in terms of convert baptisms can often lag behind with some of these metrics, such as temple and family history work, considering the focus has historically been on baptizing new converts and expansion. Fifth, convert baptisms represent the smallest percentage increase among the metrics disclosed in the video (13% increase), yet other metrics, including sacrament meeting attendance (21%) and new converts attending sacrament meeting (26%), are significantly higher. Thus, member activity rates appear to be improving, as growth rates are higher for these measures of member activity than the total number of converts joining the Church, suggesting improved retention and post-baptism engagement. Whether these gains can be sustained over the long term—particularly in newer areas—remains an open empirical question that will be clarified in future reporting. Sixth, the Church in the Africa South Area reported an increase of 11.6% in membership between year-end 2023 and year-end 2024 - a comparatively slower growth rate than most of the metrics discussed (although this statistic only slightly overlaps with the statistics shared in the video). Seventh, the Church is not only building up long-established centers of strength in the area (i.e., Johannesburg, Harare), but is also expanding into areas where the Church has had little or no prior institutional presence, such as São Tomé and Príncipe and northern Mozambique where there is only one stake and no districts in the planned Mozambique Nampula Mission. Five new missions are planned for the area in 2026. Eighth, the Church also reported large numbers of new congregations organized in the area during 2025. According to my count in parentheses, the following countries have had an increase of at least one congregation during 2025: Zimbabwe (20), Mozambique (12), Botswana (6), Madagascar (6), Angola (5), Malawi (3), Lesotho (2), and Zambia (1). 

This pattern of accelerated growth is not isolated to southern Africa. The Africa Central Area also had a major year for growth in 2025. For example, there were approximately 88 new congregations created in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone (a 25% increase for the year), and the number of congregations in Kenya increased by 26 (a 34% increase). The Africa West Area also had a productive year in many countries. Other areas of the world also experienced accelerated growth in 2025 compared to recent years. Preliminary reports suggest the Church may have set a new all-time record for the number of convert baptisms in a single year in 2025 which is likely around 350,000-375,000. Official 2025 statistics will be released in April.