Seventh-day Adventist World Population and Demographics

Did you know that the Seventh-day Adventist Church has more churches around the world than all the Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and Subway restaurants combined?¹

Think about how many McDonald’s fast food restaurants you see around town. There’s a lot, right?

So how many churches is that exactly?

How many people go to all those churches? And why is that important?

That’s what we’re going to look at today, and more. We’ll look at:

• The Adventist population
• Demographics of the Adventist Church

Let’s first take a look at how many Adventists there are.

The Adventist population

Courtesy of the Ellen G. White Estate, Inc.

As of the end of 2021, the world church had a total of 21,912,161 memberships.² It shows how far we have come from our humble roots.

Seventh-day Adventism was started by Ellen G. White, James White, Joseph Bates, and several others in the 1840s after the Great Disappointment on October 22, 1844. Some Christians who followed William Miller thought this event marked the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Ellen White received the gift of prophecy, which helped guide the early Adventists in their journey of becoming a recognized church.

Although it had its roots in New England (USA) and later Battle Creek, Michigan, the Adventist Movement soon spread from coast to coast, then north and south and beyond the Americas. Today it is a global church, with its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland (USA).

Let’s take some time to dissect today’s church and its influence.

Population by division

The Adventist Church separates the world into “divisions.” There are 13 divisions and a few other areas recognized by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

• The East-Central Africa Division includes African countries between Eritrea and Tanzania and has 4,666,780 church memberships.³
• The Euro-Asia Division covers Russia down to Afghanistan, along with some of the most eastern European countries like Belarus. 101,493 members call it home.⁴
• The Inter-American Division encompasses all of Central America, the Caribbean, and the northernmost countries of South America. It has 3,661,426 members.⁵
• The Inter-European Division includes much of Continental Europe, from Portugal to Germany. It has 178,566 members.⁶
• The North American Division spans all of North America and is home to 1,271,642 members.⁷
• The Northern Asia-Pacific Division includes China, Mongolia, the Koreas, Japan, and Taiwan. 285,664 members live there.⁸
• The South American Division includes every country from Brazil south and has 2,568,560 members.⁹
• The South Pacific Division is made up of Australia and all the Pacific Islands. It has 612,590 members.¹⁰
• The South Africa-Indian Ocean Division is made up of the bottom tip of Africa and the nearby islands. 4,184,684 members live here.¹¹
• The South Asian Division is mostly made up of India and a few surrounding countries. It has 1,149,871 members.¹²
• The Southern Asia-Pacific Division is composed of the southern Asian countries and the larger islands like the Philippines and Indonesia. 1,749,036 members live there.¹³
• The Trans-European Division has countries from all over Europe, including the United Kingdom, Nordic countries, and southern European countries. There are 88,507 members there.¹⁴
• The West-Central Africa Division includes the African countries from Congo and west to Senegal and Gambia. There are 905,667 members in this division.¹⁵

Although the lack of religious liberty in some countries has restricted our work, we still seek to do what is possible with the means we have.

Since we’ve seen some statistics for members, let’s look at some of the institutions the Adventist Church has around the world.

Churches

As of 2021, the Church operates 95,297 churches.¹⁶

However, not every group of members has a church building. They may meet in houses or other buildings, which is why the total number of congregations is 153,253.¹⁷

In the East-Central African Division alone, there are 18,403 churches.¹⁸

Hospitals

The number of hospitals and sanitariums we operate is 229.¹⁹ We also have 1,475 clinics to serve the communities they’re a part of.²⁰

Some of our biggest hospitals include Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California, and AdventHealth Orlando in Orlando, Florida.

Adventists believe health is crucial—not only physical health but spiritual and mental as well. That’s why the Adventist Church operates a large network of hospitals and health clinics around the world. With these healthcare facilities, we can not only heal people but also use the time together for evangelism.

We are so focused on this mission to serve that our network has become the largest Protestant health network worldwide.

Schools

As of 2020, we operated a total of 9,149 schools²¹. Of those, 6,623 were elementary schools²², 2,640 were secondary schools,²³ and 156 were post-secondary schools.²⁴

Some of the most well-known Adventist schools are Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California, Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, Adventist University of Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, and Avondale University in New South Wales, Australia.

Within all those schools, we are educating a total of 2,023,844 students.²⁵

Along with health, Adventists also highly value education. Education gives us the tools necessary to make good use of the talents God gives us and to work with other Christians for the ultimate goal: bringing others to Christ.

It can be used as a form of missionary work for whatever we choose to do in our lives.

The effort to educate young people around the world has made us the second-largest education network worldwide.

Publishing houses

As of 2020, 57 publishing houses and their branches exist globally.²⁶ In order to take these publications to the general public and beyond, a total of 27,519 literature evangelists work among the many countries Adventism has touched and is touching.²⁷

One big publishing house is the Pacific Press Publishing Association in Nampa, Idaho (USA).

The Adventist Church also owns and runs many of its own publishing houses. These companies print many types of materials for the church, including outreach materials, Sabbath School lessons, Ellen White’s writings, Bibles, and other literature.

Now that we’ve taken some time to explore some institutions within the church, let’s look at the demographics of the Adventist Church, where we’ll celebrate our diverse populations all over the world.

Demographics of the Adventist Church

The population of the world church is almost evenly split between men and women, with 43% male and 57% female.²⁸

Since the Adventist Church spans the globe, it represents an enormous variety of ages, races, and other demographics.

The church splits age statistics into six categories. In 2021, newborns to age 20 comprised 20.04% of the population.²⁹ Ages 21 to 35 were slightly higher at 24.30%, while ages 36-50 were lower, at 19.06%.³⁰

Ages 51-65 made up 13.44%, though ages 66-80 made up only 7.39%, and any older were at 3.13%.³¹ There was also a number of unknown ages making up 12.64%, which does not include those divisions without records.³²

The table below shows the number of people that comprise each age group.

Aside from the world church, extensive research has been conducted on the North American demographic. The Center for Creative Ministry did a study of North American Adventists in 2018. Here is a breakdown of what they found:

• Age: the largest number of Adventists was between 54-72 years of age with 40%. The range of 73 and older had the next highest at 23%.³³

• Race: Although black and multiple ethnicity populations are growing, white is the highest at 54.1%.³⁴ Even then, Adventism is the most racially diverse religion in the United States.³⁵

• Marital status: 79% of Adventists are married, with low rates of divorced, single, and widowed³⁶ compared to the United States in general.³⁷

The Adventist Church, as we can see, is diverse in many areas.

With so many different backgrounds, we can use our diversity to bring many different ideas to the table. And we all unite for a single purpose: to tell others about Jesus.

Adventist population compared to other denominations

Let’s take a look at the world population of some of the other big denominations.

• The Adventist population was 21,912,161 in 2021.
• Catholicism, as of 2020, had 1.36 billion members.³⁸
• The Anglican Church had 85 million members in 2019.³⁹
• Lutheranism had 77 million members in 2019.⁴⁰
• Also in 2019, the Presbyterian Church had 75 million members.⁴¹
• The Baptist World Alliance tallied 51 million members in 2021.⁴²
• The Methodist World Council had 39,745,196 members, as of 2016.⁴³

Compared to other major Christian groups, the Adventist Church has a smaller membership. But we are continuing to grow, especially in Africa and Asia.

Within these worldwide numbers, let’s focus on the United States and compare the number of churches or congregations.

• The Adventist Church has 6,257 congregations.
• The different Baptist groups have over 60,000 churches.⁴⁴
• Catholicism claimed 17,755 parishes in 2014.⁴⁵
• The United Methodist Church reported 30,543 active churches in 2019.⁴⁶
• Presbyterians attended 8,813 churches in 2021.⁴⁷
• The Anglican Church had 974 churches in 2021.⁴⁸
• The Lutherans had 8,900 churches, as of 2020.⁴⁹

Since the Adventist population is smaller than some of these other major denominations but has a fairly comparative number of churches in the U.S, it means many of our churches have a smaller number of members than churches of other denominations.

This allows you to get to know the members of your church better and form closer connections with your entire church body as a whole.

With God as our center, we can work together to fulfill our mission as Christians and Adventists and bring the message of Christ to our dark world, whether it be through church, ministry, healthcare, or education.

If you’d like to learn more about the inner workings of the Adventist Church,

1. Angeles, Samantha, “Reaching Millennial Generations: Ministry Leaders from Around the World Gather at Andrews University,” nadAdventist.org, North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.nadadventist.org/news/reaching-millennial-generations-ministry-leaders-around-world-gather-andrews-university.  [↵]
2. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021,” Adventist.org, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventist.org/statistics/. [↵]
3. “East Central Africa Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=ECD. [↵]
4. “Euro Asia Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=ESD#SubFields. [↵]
5. “Inter-American Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=IAD. [↵]
6. “Inter-European Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=EUD. [↵]
7. “North American Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=NAD. [↵]
8. “Northern Asia-Pacific Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=NSD. [↵]
9. “South American Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=SAD. [↵]
10. “South Pacific Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=SPD. [↵]
11. “Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=SID. [↵]
12. “Southern Asia Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=SUD. [↵]
13. “Southern Asia Pacific Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=SSD. [↵]
14. Trans-European Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=TED. [↵]
15. “West-Central Africa Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=WAD. [↵]
16. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
17. “Who Are Seventh-day Adventists?” nadAdventist.org, North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.nadadventist.org/about-our-church/who-are-adventists. [↵]
18. “East Central Africa Division,” AdventistStatistics.org, Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.adventiststatistics.org/view_Summary.asp?FieldAbr=ECD. [↵]
19. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
20. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
21. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
22. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
23. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
24. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
25. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
26. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
27. “Seventh-day Adventist World Church Statistics 2021.” [↵]
28. https://www.adventistresearch.info/gender-statistics-in-the-adventist-church/ [↵]
29. Adventist Archives, Statistics, and Research [↵]
30. Ibid. [↵]
31. Ibid. [↵]
32. Ibid. [↵]
33. “2018 North American Adventist Demographics,” CreativeMinistry.org, Center For Creative Ministry, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.creativeministry.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Demographics-of-Adventists-in-North-America.pdf [↵]
34. Ibid. [↵]
35. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/27/the-most-and-least-racially-diverse-u-s-religious-groups/#:~:text=Seventh%2Dday%20Adventists%20top%20the,another%20race%20or%20mixed%20race. [↵]
36. Ibid. [↵]
37. “Marriage and Divorce,” CDC, Accessed January 23, 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/marriage-divorce.htm. [↵]
38. Llywelyn, Dorian, “Global Christianity,” University of Southern California.edu, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/global-christianity/. [↵]
39. “Countries with the Largest Anglican Populations,” WorldAtlas.com, World Atlas, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-largest-anglican-populations.html.  [↵]
40. “More than 77 million Lutherans in 148 LWF member churches,” LutheranWorld.org, The Lutheran World Federation, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.lutheranworld.org/news/more-77-million-lutherans-148-lwf-member-churches. [↵]
41. Fairchild, Mary, “Presbyterian Church Denomination,” LearnReligions.com, Learn Religions, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://www.learnreligions.com/presbyterian-church-denomination-701366. [↵]
42. “Member Unions,” BaptistWorld.org, Baptist World Alliance, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://baptistworld.org/member-unions/. [↵]
43. “Statistical Information,” World Methodist Council.org, World Methodist Council, Accessed December 2, 2022, https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/statistical-information/. [↵]
44. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Baptist_Church. [↵]
45. https://www.usccb.org/offices/public-affairs/laity-and-parishes. [↵]
46. https://www.umc.org/en/content/united-methodists-at-a-glance. [↵]
47. https://www.pcusa.org/news/2022/4/25/pcusa-2021-statistics-continue-show-declining-memb/ [↵]
48. https://subsplash.com/acna/media/mi/+qmv4t9d. [↵]
49. https://www.elca.org/news-and-events/elca-facts. [↵]

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