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Protestants worldwide are estimated to be more than 830 million, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [a] among approximately 2.3 billion Christians. [10] [1] [11] [12] [b] In 2010, a total of more than 800 million included 300 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 260 million in the Americas, 140 million in Asia-Pacific region, 100 million in Europe and 2 million in Middle East-North Africa. [2] Protestants account for nearly forty percent of Christians worldwide and more than one tenth of the total human population. [2] Various estimates put the percentage of Protestants in relation to the total number of the world's Christians at 33%, [5] 36%, [13] 36.7%, [2] and 40%, [3] while in relation to the world's population at 11.6% [2] and 13%. [8]
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In European countries which were most profoundly influenced by the Reformation, Protestantism still remains the most practiced religion. [5] These include the Nordic countries and United Kingdom. [5] [14] In other historical Protestant strongholds such as Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary, it remains one of the most popular religions. [15] Although Czech Republic was the site of one of the most significant pre-reformation movements, [16] there are only few Protestant adherents [17] [18] —mainly due to historical reasons like persecution of Protestants by the Catholic Habsburgs, [19] restrictions during the Communist rule and also the ongoing secularization. [16] Over the last several decades, religious practice has been declining as secularization has increased. [5] [20] According to a 2019 study about religiosity in the European Union (EU) by Eurobarometer, Protestants made up 9% of the EU population. [21] According to Pew Research Center, Protestants constituted nearly one fifth (or 17.8%) of the continent's Christian population in 2010. [2] Clarke and Beyer estimate that Protestants constituted 15% of all Europeans in 2009, while Noll claims that less than 12% of them lived in Europe in 2010. [5] [7]
Changes in worldwide Protestantism over the last century have been significant. [3] [7] [22] Since 1900, Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America. [23] [8] [22] That caused Protestantism to be called a primarily non-Western religion. [7] [22] Much of the growth has occurred after World War II, when decolonization of Africa and abolition of various restrictions against Protestants in Latin American countries occurred. [8] According to one source, Protestants constituted respectively 2.5% of South Americans, 2% of Africans and 0.5% of Asians in 1900. [8] In 2000, these percentages had increased to 17%, more than 27% and 5.5%, respectively. [8] According to Mark A. Noll, 79% of Anglicans lived in the United Kingdom in 1910, while most of the remainder were found in the United States and across the British Commonwealth. [7] By 2010, 59% of Anglicans were found in Africa. [7] China is home to the world's largest Protestant minority. [2] [c]
Protestantism is growing in Africa, [23] [24] [25] Asia, [23] [25] [26] Latin America, [25] [27] and Oceania, [23] [22] while remaining stable or declining in Anglo America [22] and Europe, [5] [28] with some exceptions such as France, [29] where it was legally eradicated after the abolition of the Edict of Nantes by the Edict of Fontainebleau and the following persecution of Huguenots, but now is claimed to be stable in number or even growing slightly. [29] According to some, Russia is another country to see Protestant growth. [30] [31] [32] However, "by 2050 it is expected that less than 9% of Protestants will be European" and "sometime around 2040 half of all Protestants will likely live in Africa." [33]
In 2010, the largest Protestant denominational families were historically Pentecostal denominations (10.8%), Anglican (10.6%), Lutheran (9.7%), Baptist (9%), United and uniting churches (unions of different denominations) (7.2%), Presbyterian or Reformed (7%), Methodist (3.4%), Adventist (2.7%), Congregationalist (0.5%), Brethren (0.5%), The Salvation Army (0.3%) and Moravian (0.1%). Other denominations accounted for 38.2% of Protestants. [2]
The United States is home to approximately 20% of Protestants. [2] According to a 2019 study, Protestant share of U.S. population dropped to 43%, further ending its status as religion of the majority. [34] [35] [36] The decline is attributed mainly to the dropping membership of the Mainline Protestant churches [35] [37] and even among Evangelical Protestant churches [38] [39] while Black churches are relatively stable or continue to grow. [35] According to Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States, a review of American Nobel prizes winners awarded between 1901 and 1972 by Harriet Zuckerman, 72% of American Nobel Prize laureates came from Protestant backgrounds. [40] Overall, Protestants have won a total of 84.2% of all the American Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, [40] 60% in Medicine, [40] 58.6% in Physics, [40] between 1901 and 1972.
By 2050, some project Protestantism to rise to slightly more than half of the world's total Christian population. [41] [d] According to Hans J. Hillerbrand, Protestant and Catholic share of the global Christian population will almost be the same by 2050, with Protestants exhibiting a significantly higher growth rate. [42] According to Mark Juergensmeyer of the University of California, popular Protestantism [e] is the most dynamic religious movement in the contemporary world, alongside resurgent Islam. [43]
