World Christian Database: field definitions

Data source: Gina A. Zurlo, ed., World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2025).

Table Field Description
country Country Pop 2075 Given current trends, this figure represents a projection of this country's population by mid 2075.
country Country Pop 2100 Given current trends, this figure represents a projection of this country's population by mid 2100.
country Daoist % Number of Daoists as a percentage of the country's population. These are followers of one of the 3 major religions of China, regarded as part of Chinese folk religion.
country Daoists Number of Daoists in this country's population. These are followers of one of the 3 major religions of China, regarded as part of Chinese folk religion.
country Death % Death rate for this country as a percentage per year. Source material is expressed as cases per 1000. Primary source: United Nations 2024.
country Denominations Number of denominations in this country.
country Denominations per m Number of denominations per million of this country's population.
country Doubly-affiliated Persons counted as belonging to 2 or more religions, hence counted twice in censuses.
country Education % Population with at least some secondary education (% aged 25 and above). Primary source: Barro and Lee (2018), ICF Macro Demographic and Health Surveys, OECD (2023), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2023) and UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. (in HDR 2023-24).
country Electricity access % Proportion of population with access to electricity. Primary source: World Bank.
country Ethnic religionist % Number of Ethnic religionists as a percentage of the country's population. "Ethnic religionists" is a collective term for primal religionists, animists, spirit-worshippers, shamanists, ancestor-venerators, polytheists, pantheists, traditionalists (in Africa), local or tribal folk-religionists; including adherents of neo-paganism or non-Christian local or tribal syncretistic or nativistic movements, cargo cults, witchcraft eradication cults, possession healing movements, tribal messianic movements; still occasionally termed pagans, heathen, fetishists; usually confined each to a single tribe or people, hence tribal or local as opposed to universal (open to any or all peoples).
country Ethnic religionists Number of Ethnic religionists in this country's population. "Ethnic religionists" is a collective term for primal religionists, animists, spirit-worshippers, shamanists, ancestor-venerators, polytheists, pantheists, traditionalists (in Africa), local or tribal folk-religionists; including adherents of neo-paganism or non-Christian local or tribal syncretistic or nativistic movements, cargo cults, witchcraft eradication cults, possession healing movements, tribal messianic movements; still occasionally termed pagans, heathen, fetishists; usually confined each to a single tribe or people, hence tribal or local as opposed to universal (open to any or all peoples).
country Evangelicals Number of evangelicals residing in this country. These are individuals linked to Evangelical church councils.
country External gospel access pct The proportion of gospel access attributed to factors other than personal evangelism by Christians within the country (or people group)
country Female % Percentage of females in the country (UN).
country GDP growth per capita Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita. Primary source: World Bank and OECD.
country Gender gap The gap between female Human Development Index (HDI) and male HDI (as a percentage of male HDI). Primary source: UN Development Programme: Human Development Report 2023-24.
country Gender inequality (max 100) A low value indicates low inequality between women and men based on a combination of indicators: maternal mortality, adolescent birth rate, share of parliamentary seats, share of secondary education, and participation in the labour force. Primary source: UN Development Programme: Human Development Report 2023-24.
country GNI per capita Gross National Income per year per person in 2022, expressed in 2017 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars. GNI is the aggregate income of an economy generated by its production and its ownership of factors of production, less the incomes paid for the use of factors of production owned by the rest of the world. Primary source: ILO (2023), IMF (2023), UNDESA (2023), United Nations Statistics Division (2023) and World Bank (2023) (in HDR 2023-24).
country Governmental Restrictions Index Governmental Restrictions of religion Index, 0-10, low is less restriction: a comparative measure of the actions of the state that deny religious freedoms including any actions that impinge on the practice, profession, or selection of religion.
country Growth % pa This country's natural population was increasing at this annual percentage rate in 2025. A 'natural population increase' is determined by subtracting the number of deaths from the number of births in this country. Primary source: United Nations 2024.
country HDI Human development index, 2022. A higher value represents greater human development in this country. Primary source: UN Development Programme: Human Development Report 2023-24.
country Hindu % Number of Hindus as a percentage of the country's population. Followers of the main Hindu traditions: (a) Vaishnavites (Vishnaivites) numbering 70% of all Hindus; (b) Saivites numbering 25% mostly in South India; (c) Saktists or other sects (3%); (d) neo-Hindu movements and modern sects arising out of Hinduism, about 1.5%; and (e) Arya Samaj and other reformist movements, 0.5% (Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Swami-Narayanis, Ramakrishna Mission, but excluding Jains and Sikhs).
country Hindus Number of Hindus in this country's population. Followers of the main Hindu traditions: (a) Vaishnavites (Vishnaivites) numbering 70% of all Hindus; (b) Saivites numbering 25% mostly in South India; (c) Saktists or other sects (3%); (d) neo-Hindu movements and modern sects arising out of Hinduism, about 1.5%; and (e) Arya Samaj and other reformist movements, 0.5% (Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Swami-Narayanis, Ramakrishna Mission, but excluding Jains and Sikhs).
country HIV per 1,000 Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population, by sex, age and key populations. Primary source: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
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Religions

Data on 18 categories of religion, including non-religious, by country, province, and people.

Countries and regions

Data on all religions, Christian activities, and trends.

Denominations

Membership data, year begun, and rates of change.

Cities & provinces

Population and religion data on all major cities & provinces.

Peoples & languages

Detailed information covering religion, culture, and geography.

Archive

A repository of historical data, including a chronology of Christianity from the 1st to 21st centuries.