Church Grows Rapidly Worldwide Church membership continues to grow, reaching 12,560,869 in 2005. According to the 2005 Church statistical report, the Church has 2,701 stakes, 52,060 missionaries, and 122 temples in operation. In 2005 more than 240,000 converts joined the Church. Currently 341 missions are established throughout the world. Although 5.5 million members reside within the United States—where the Church is ranked as the second-fastest-growing church, according to the 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches—more than half the Church's members (6.6 million) live in more than 160 countries around the world. During the last five years, Church membership has grown outside the U.S. and Canada (17.2 percent) at almost double the rate it has within the U.S. and Canada (9.2 percent). But it's not percentages that are important. “The numbers don't tell the real story,” stated Bruce Olsen, managing director of the Church Public Affairs Department, in an April 2005 news release. “The real measure of Latter-day Saints is the depth of their faith and how it changes people's lives.” And lives are changing for the better all over the world. The following information is estimated based on 2005 year-end data. Countries with the Highest Church Membership United States—5,690,672 Mexico—1,043,718 Brazil—928,926 Philippines—553,121 Chile—539,193 Peru—416,060 Argentina—348,396 Guatemala—200,537 Canada—172,433 Ecuador—170,736 Countries with Greatest Growth, 2000–2005 (by Total Membership)* Country—Percent of Growth Countries with more than 250,000 members Peru—21.3 Brazil—19.7 Mexico—18.1 Philippines—17.6 Argentina—16.9 Countries with 30,001–250,000 members Nicaragua—50 Nigeria—48.3 Taiwan—43.8 Venezuela—39.2 Dominican Republic—34.1 Countries with 5,001–30,000 members Cambodia—249.5 Mongolia—152.1 India—107.7 Democratic Republic of Congo—93.4 Zimbabwe—74.4 Countries with 501–5,000 members Mozambique—557.6 Togo—354.7 Sri Lanka—207.7 Armenia—163 Zambia—127.3 Countries with fewer than 500 members Moldova—240 Cameroon—141.3 Virgin Islands, British—140 Saint Lucia—140 Cyprus—139.1 *The growth rate is the average for a five-year period Church Membership 1830–2006 1830 — 6 1840 — 16,865 1850 — 51,839 1860 — 61,082 1870 — 90,130 (100,000 in 1873) 1880 — 133,628 1890 — 188,263 1900 — 283,765 1910 — 398,478 1920 — 525,987 1930 — 670,017 1940 — 862,664 (1 million in 1947) 1950 — 1,111,314 1960 — 1,693,180 (2 million in 1963) 1970 — 2,930,810 (4 million in 1978) 1980 — 4,639,822 (7 million in 1989) 1990 — 7,761,207 (10 million in 1997) 2000 — 11,068,861 (12 million in 2004) 2005 — 12,560,869