Catholics numbered 1,344,403,000 as of 31 December 2019, up by 15,410,000 over the previous year, while the world popu-lation stood at 7,577,777,000, up by 81,383,000 over the same period, Agenzia Fides reported to mark the 95th World Mission Day, which will be celebrated on 24 October.
The increase touches every continent, except Europe (-292,000). As in the past, the highest increases were reported in Africa (+8,302,000), Americas (+5,373,000), Asia (+1,909,000), and Oceania (+118,000).
The worldwide percentage of Catholics increased compared to the previous year, reaching 17.74 per cent. With respect to the continents, variations are minimal: increases in Africa (+0.14), Asia (+0.02), and the Americas (+0.09); decrease in Europe (-0.05); no change in Oceania.
The number of Bishops dropped by 13 to 5,364. Dio-cesan Bishops gained 12 new members, but religious bisho-ps declined by 25. Diocesan Bishops increased in Africa (+11), Asia (+5), Europe (+4) and Oceania (+2); decreased only in America (-10). Religious Bishops declined on all continents: Africa (-6), America (-7), Asia (-5), Europe (-4) and Oceania (-3). The total number of priests in the world went up, to 414,336 (+271). Europe again reported a major drop (-2,608) as did the Americas (-690) and Oceania (-69). Increases were reported in Africa (+1,649) and Asia (+1,989).
Permanent deacons also increased (+734) to 48,238. The largest gain was in the Americas (+562), followed by Europe (+177), Oceania (+5), Africa (+1), decreasing only in Asia (-11).