The Center for the Study of Global Christianity of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, recently released its 2026 Status of Global Christianity in the International Bulletin of Mission Research.

The study “provides a statistical overview of the world’s 2.6 billion Christians and their activities”, and “highlights new future projections to the year 2075”.

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Some of the main topics of the research are the evolution of global religion; the current and future situation of Christianity; Christian mission and finance; and the persecution of Christians.

Christianity continues to grow, but Islam grows faster

The Status of Global Christianity compared data from 1900, 2000 and 2020, to make projections for 2026 and 2075.

According to that data, Christianity continues to grow at an annual rate of 0.95%.

Moreover, it is expected that the number of Christians will increase by one billion by 2075, reaching almost 3.7 billion, which will account for nearly 36% of the global population.

Despite this growth, the study shows that Islam is growing faster than Christianity, at 1.57% annually. By 2075, projections say there will b around 3,4 billion Muslims worldwide, significantly reducing the differences with Christianity.

More evangelicals, less atheists

The Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary research reveals that evangelicals are growing at a faster rate than other faith groups.

While Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians have grown by only 0.56% and 0.28% respectively, evangelicals are increasing at 1.34% per year, especially Pentecostals and Charismatics, who have grown 2%.

The study also reports a decline in atheism. There were 148 million atheists in 2020, but this figure is now shrinking by 0.15% each year, falling to fewer than 146 million in 2026.

Furthermore, although the number of the so-called 'nones', or non-religiously affiliated, will reach their peak in 2026 with over 910 million people, it is projected that they will begin to decline over the next 50 years.

Global South, the center of Christianity

According to the research, there are 780 million Christians in Africa and over 415 million in Asia. Christianity is growing faster on those two continents than anywhere else in the world (2.6% and 1.27% respectively).

By 2075, over 80% of the population of the Global South will be Christian. Researchers also say that the Demographic Republic of the Congo will probable replace the United States as the country with the most Christians in the world.

In contrast, 553 million Christians live in Europe, which is a 0.41% decrease. In North America, there are around 275 million Christians, a decline of 0.16% per year.

The Christian population is also shrinking in the Middle East. Today, they represent 4.2% of the population, compared to 6.1% in 1970. This is expected to continue dropping at an annual rate of -0.07%.

Mission, Bible and finance

The Status of Global Christianity shows that the missionary work is growing, with 455,000 missionaries serving all around the world. The projection for 2075 is almost 700,000.

Furthermore, the New testament has already been translated to 2,600 languages. Estimations say that it will be read in 7,600 languages by 2075.

Despite those figures, a quarter of the world population, around 2.3 billion people, remain unreached, while less than 1 in 5 non-Christians personally know a Christian.

The report also warns that, although the donations to Christian causes are increasing, around $70 billion is lost annually through theft, fraud and other forms of ecclesiastical crime.

Persecution of Christians

According the study, there are fewer Christians killed for their faith, however, almost one million will die by 2075.

You can see all the data here.