The Salt Lake Tribune, April 6, 2019, reported the following 2018 statistics for the LDS Church:
- Membership — 16,313,735
- Converts in 2018 — 234,332
- New children of record — 102,102
- Congregations — 30,536
- Full-time missionaries — 65,137
- Service missionaries — 37,963
- Operating temples — 161
According to the article, independent church demographer Matt Martinich concluded this was the “lowest net increase in church membership since 1978.” He also calculated that as many as 140,868 members had resigned in 2018.1
According to Jana Riess, the LDS Church had a 2.03% growth rate in 2013 but this has fallen every year since then. It now stands at 1.21% growth for 2018.2
Footnotes:
- Peggy Fletcher Stack, “LDS Church tops 16.3 million members, but number reflects lowest net increase in 40 years,” Salt Lake Tribune (April 6, 2019). ↩︎
- Jana Riess, “Mormon growth continues to slow, church report shows,” Religion News Service (April 6, 2019). ↩︎
Originally appeared in:
Sandra Tanner, “2018 LDS Church Statistics,” Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 133, October 2019, 6.