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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 November 2024
Latin America has been a majority-Christian continent for over 500 years due to European colonisation and the importation of Catholicism. The continent's religious makeup changed litt le between 1970 and 2020, dropping only slightly in its Christian percentage. Atheists and agnostics had some of the fastest growth rates over this period and together represented about 4% of the population in 2020.
On the surface, it appears that religion has changed very litt le in Latin America, since the continent was 94% Christian in 1970 and 92% in 2020. However, its internal diversity has changed quite dramatically. Latin America has been majority Catholic since the sixteenth century. While Catholicism remains the largest tradition and arguably the most infl uential, Protestants (evangélicos), Pentecostals, Charismatics and Independents have grown rapidly across the continent. There is signifi cant overlap between these categories and it is diffi cult to distinguish non-Pentecostal Evangelicals from Pentecostals since the Evangelical movement has become Pentecostalised in many countries. Nevertheless, it is widely reported that the Catholic Church is declining with the growth of these new churches. Together, Protestants and Independents were 7.7% of the population (22 million) in 1970 and in 2020 represented 18.2% (121 million).
Major Christian traditions
Catholics are the majority Christian tradition in most countries of Latin America, especially in Central and South America, where in many countries they are more than 80% of the population. Protestants grew by over 9% per year between 1970 and 2020 and are now the second-largest Christian tradition. Independents grew at 8.8% per year.
Christians over time
Christianity in Latin America has been in only a very gradual decline since 1970, from 94% of the population to 92% in 2020. The countries with the lowest percentage share of Christians are Suriname (51%), Guyana (54%) and Uruguay (62%).
Religious affi liation
Latin America is home to small populations of Spiritists, who are followers of Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and other African religious traditions that mix Catholicism with other traditional religions. The largest populations are in Brazil, Cuba and Colombia. Non-religion is on the rise, but mostly in urban areas.
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