Nigeria Now Has 35 Million Catholics – The Faith is Shifting to the Global South

Pope Leo

By Tony Onyima, Ph.D.

According to the 2025 Pontifical Yearbook released by the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics, Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s second-largest Catholic nation with 35 million adherents. This milestone signals a profound demographic and spiritual shift in global Catholicism.

With 35 million Catholics, Nigeria now accounts for more than 12% of Africa’s total Catholic population, which has grown to 281 million, representing 20% of the global Catholic community. Only the Democratic Republic of Congo ranks higher on the continent, with 55 million Catholics.

To appreciate the weight of these numbers, consider this: Nigeria alone now has more Catholics than Italy, France, and Spain individually – countries once seen as the heartlands of the faith. This is a vivid reminder that the centre of gravity for global Catholicism is shifting decisively southward.

Globally, the Catholic Church boasts 1.406 billion members. Brazil has 182 million Catholics, comprising 13% of the global population. Yet, Africa’s role as the faith’s growth engine is becoming impossible to ignore. With every passing year, one in every five Catholics in the world is African – a far cry from just a few decades ago.

While the Church in Europe grapples with secularisation and a shrinking priesthood, Africa is surging with vitality. The number of Catholic priests in Africa rose by 2.7%, bucking the global trend, which saw a modest decline of -0.2%. Today, Africa is home to 54,944 Catholic priests, forming 13.5% of the worldwide priesthood.

The growth is mirrored in the rising number of bishops on the continent. Africa’s share of the global episcopacy increased from 13.8% to 14.2%, reaching 771 bishops – men who will shape the theology, culture, and politics of the Church in decades to come.

The implications are profound for Nigeria. With 35 million Catholics – more than the entire population of Ghana – Nigeria’s Catholic Church is significant and influential. Its bishops play a growing role in Vatican diplomacy. Its seminaries are full. Its lay movements are vibrant. And its clergy are increasingly being dispatched as missionaries to ageing parishes in Europe and North America.