The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics

4. Vital Statistics | Religious Studies Center

src: rsc.byu.edu

The tables on this page represents Latter-day Saint membership, as reported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), as of December 31, 2016. Except where indicated, general population figures are based on the latest CIA estimates (primarily for July 2016). Percentages of LDS members were calculated with this information. The link under the names of each country, territory, etc. corresponds to brief LDS history and statistical information for that particular area.

In 2016, the LDS Church had over 30,500 congregations and a reported membership of 16,118,169. The number of stakes, districts, congregations were taken from the Meetinghouse Locator.

Video The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics

Membership defined

The LDS Church defines membership as:

Those who have been baptized and confirmed.
Those under age nine who have been blessed but not baptized.
Those who are not accountable because of intellectual disabilities, regardless of age.
Unblessed children under age eight when:
- Two member parents request it.
- One member parent requests it and the nonmember parent gives permission.

Maps The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics

Membership considerations

In 2005, Peggy Fletcher Stack, longtime religion columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, estimated that about one-third of the reported LDS membership was "active" (i.e., regularly attending church services and participating in other expected meetings and obligations). In 2005, this would have amounted to approximately 4 million active members among a worldwide LDS population of 12 million. Active membership varied from a high of 40 to 50 percent in congregations in North America and the Pacific Islands, to a low of about 25 percent in Latin America. Fletcher Stack's data was compiled from several sources, including a 2001 survey of religious affiliation by scholars at City University of New York and a demographer at LDS-owned Brigham Young University.

In 2003, apostle Dallin H. Oaks, noted that among recent converts "attrition is sharpest in the two months after baptism", which he attributed in part to difficulties adapting to the church's dietary code the Word of Wisdom that prohibits use of alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea. In 2001, sociologist Armand Mauss estimated that about 50 percent of LDS converts in the US stopped attending church within a year of baptism, while outside the US the rate was about 70 percent.