Countries with the Highest Members-to-Units Ratio: 2016 Figures

The members-to-units ratio is a statistic ascertained by dividing church-reported membership by the total number of congregations. Countries with high member-to-unit ratios invariably experience low member activity rates as there are an insufficient number of active members to create additional congregations.

Below is a list of the 24 countries and dependencies with the highest members-to-units ratios for 2016 (more than 600 members per unit). Forty-two percent (42%) of LDS membership in 2016 resided in these 24 countries. The 2013 list can be found here. The 2014 list can be found here.

1. Chile - 973
2. Nicaragua - 879
3. Bolivia - 803
4. Northern Mariana Islands - 786
5. Ecuador - 785
6. Peru - 772
7. Colombia - 768
8. El Salvador - 760
9. Uruguay - 743
10. Honduras - 733
11. Panama - 732
12. South Korea - 730
13. Mexico - 703
14. Dominican Republic - 680
15. Venezuela - 678
16. Paraguay - 671
17. Brazil - 659
18. Kiribati - 656
19. Costa Rica - 633
20. Guatemala - 622
21. Philippines - 616
22. Portugal - 609
23. Guam - 608
24. Hong Kong - 607

Countries with the Highest Members-to-Units Ratio: 2014 Figures

The members-to-units ratio is a statistic ascertained by dividing church-reported membership by the total number of congregations. Countries with high member-to-unit ratios invariably experience low member activity rates as there are an insufficient number of active members to create additional congregations.

Below is a list of the 20 countries and dependencies with the highest members-to-units ratios for 2014. The 2013 list can be found here.

1. Chile - 959
2. Nicaragua - 870
3. Northern Mariana Islands - 789
4. Bolivia - 760
5. Ecuador - 744
6. El Salvador - 734
7. Colombia - 725
8. Honduras - 723
9. Uruguay - 720
10. Peru - 720
11. Panama - 720
12. South Korea - 688
13. Mexico - 685
14. Hong Kong - 669
15. Paraguay - 653
16. Brazil - 646
17. Kiribati - 646
18. Dominican Republic - 622
19. Venezuela - 612
20. Guatemala - 607

Member activity rates have appeared to worsen in most countries during the past decade as evidenced by substantial increases in the members-to-units ratio. This finding is supported by only two nations in 2003 reporting members-to-units ratios of over 600 (the Northern Mariana Islands and Chile). The Church reported improvement reducing the members-to-units ratio in only one of these 20 nations within the past year: Hong Kong (a decrease from 721 to 669). Uruguay was the country in the top 20 with the largest increase in the members-to-units ratio for 2014 (+53) due to slow membership growth combined with a net decline in the number of congregations.

Countries with the Highest Members-to-Units Ratio: 2013 Figures

The members-to-units ratio is a statistic ascertained by dividing church-reported membership by the total number of congregations. Countries with high member-to-unit ratios invariably experience low member activity rates as there are an insufficient number of active members to create additional congregations.

Below is a list of the 20 countries and dependencies with the highest members-to-units ratios for 2013.

1. Chile - 950
2. Nicaragua - 836
3. Northern Mariana Islands - 779
4. Bolivia - 733
5. Hong Kong - 721
6. Ecuador - 720
7. El Salvador - 715
8. Honduras - 710
9. Peru - 701
10. Colombia - 699
11. Panama - 695
12. Mexico - 679
13. Macau -  674
14. South Korea - 673
15. Uruguay - 667
16. Kiribati - 641
17. Brazil - 634
18. Paraguay - 624
19. Dominican Republic - 617
20. Venezuela - 600

Member activity rates have appeared to worsen in most countries within the past decade as evidenced by substantial increases in the members-to-units ratio. This finding is supported by only two nations in 2003 reporting members-to-units ratios of over 600 (the Northern Mariana Islands and Chile).