Top 10 countries with the largest Catholic populations in Africa

• Africa’s Catholic population rose from 281 million in 2023 to more than 288 million in 2024.

• DR Congo has Africa’s largest Catholic population, followed by Nigeria and Uganda.

• Africa accounted for 20.3% of the global Catholic population in 2024.

New figures released by the Vatican show that Africa recorded a significant rise in its Catholic population between 2023 and 2024, strengthening its position as one of the Church’s key regions.

According to a recent report by Vatican News, the number of Catholics in Africa increased from just over 281 million in 2023 to more than 288 million in 2024. The continent’s share of the global Catholic population also rose from 19.9% to 20.3% over the same period.

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The figures were drawn from the Annuario Pontificio 2026 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2024, publications compiled by the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics. They provide information on the Catholic population and the activities of the Church across countries and continents.

Globally, the number of Catholics rose from approximately 1.406 billion in 2023 to more than 1.422 billion in 2024, representing an increase of 1.14%. Africa’s growth was particularly notable, highlighting the continent’s expanding contribution to the worldwide Church.

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has the largest Catholic population among the African countries in the supplied figures, with approximately 29.5 million Catholics. This represents 49.75% of its reported population of 59.3 million.

Nigeria ranks second, with about 17.9 million Catholics. However, they account for 14.38% of the country’s reported population of 124.5 million, a smaller proportion than in several other African countries.

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Uganda ranks third, with approximately 11.2 million Catholics, representing 42.28% of its reported population of 26.5 million.

These figures demonstrate the difference between the size of a Catholic population and its share of a country’s overall population. While Nigeria has more Catholics than Uganda, Catholics make up a larger proportion of Uganda’s population.

The rise in Africa’s Catholic population is accompanied by growth in other areas of Church life, particularly the training of future priests.

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Vatican statistics show that Africa accounted for 34.5% of students studying philosophy and theology for the priesthood in 2024, the largest share among the continents. The number of students in these programmes increased by 2.25% compared with 2023, even as the global total declined.

The continent also recorded an increase in the number of priests during the period. However, the growing Catholic population places pressure on the Church to provide sufficient clergy and pastoral services to communities.

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In 2024, Africa had approximately 5,000 Catholics per priest, according to the Vatican report. This points to the scale of the pastoral responsibilities facing the Church as its membership expands.

The figures underline Africa’s growing contribution to Catholicism, both through its expanding population and its role in preparing future generations of clergy. The country-level table below ranks the 10 African countries with the largest Catholic populations based on the figures supplied.