The number of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide was 16,663,663 as of December 31, 2020, compared to 16,565,036 at the end of 2019.
The net increase of 98,627 church members was reflected in a statistical report issued during the Saturday afternoon session of the 191st Annual General Conference of the faith.
The numbers reflect the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Church’s missionary work during the final three quarters of 2020. It also led to delays in baby blessings and baptisms, as congregations followed the COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Saturday’s conference sessions highlighted the increasingly international nature of the church.
Since 1998, more members of the church have lived outside the United States and Canada, Elder Gerrit W. Gong said in the Saturday morning session. “In 2025, we predict that as many church members will be able to live in Latin America as in the United States and Canada.”
At the end of 2019, the church had 6,920,086 members in the US / Canada and 6,677,596 in Latin America, including Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The number of church members was 16,313,735 at the end of 2018 and 16,118,169 at the end of 2017.
Other statistics from Saturday’s report:
- 31,126 congregations, 186 year after year.
- 3,463 bets, 27 from a year ago.
- 405 missions, six from 2019.
- 537 districts, below five, partly replaced by new stakes.
- 65,440 new registered children, down from 102,102 in 2019.
- 125,930 baptized converts, down from 248,835 a year earlier.
- 51,819 young full-time proselytizing missionaries, were 67,021 in 2019.
- I30.527 church service missionaries, down from 31,333 the previous year.
The church transferred tens of thousands of missionaries who were serving in countries other than their own back to their countries of origin during 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands were released from service earlier. Those who remained were quarantined in their apartments for much of the year and made the transition to online proselytism.
The full 2019 statistical report is available here. The 2018 report is here.