The worldwide membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was 16,663,663 as of Dec. 31, 2020, up from 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 faith’s 191st Annual General Conference.
The numbers reflect the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the church’s missionary work through the final three quarters of 2020. It also led to delays in baby blessings and baptisms as congregations followed 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. “By 2025, we anticipate as many church members may 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 U.S./Canada and 6,677,596 in Latin America, including Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The church’s membership numbered 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, up 186 year over year.
- 3,463 stakes, up 27 from a year ago.
- 405 missions, up six from 2019.
- 537 districts, down five, replaced in part by the new stakes.
- 65,440 new children of record, down from 102,102 in 2019.
- 125,930 converts baptized, down from 248,835 a year earlier.
- 51,819 young, full-time proselyting missionaries, down from 67,021 in 2019.
- 30,527 church service missionaries, down from 31,333 the previous year.
The church moved tens of thousands of missionaries who were serving in countries other than their own back to their home countries during 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands were released from service early. Those who remained were quarantined much of the year in their apartments and transitioned to online proselyting.
The full 2019 statistical report is available here. The 2018 report is here.