Jehovah's Witnesses - Demographics

Demographics

Jehovah's Witnesses have an active presence in most countries, but do not form a large part of the population of any country.

As of August 2011, Jehovah's Witnesses report an average of 7.39 million publishers—the term they use for members actively involved in preaching—in 109,403 congregations. In 2011, these reports indicated over 1.7 billion hours spent in preaching and Bible study activity. Since the mid-1990s, the number of peak publishers has increased from 4.5 million to 7.65 million. Jehovah's Witnesses estimate their current worldwide growth rate to be 2.4% per year.

The official published membership statistics, such as those mentioned above, include only those who submit reports for their personal ministry; official statistics do not include inactive and disfellowshipped individuals or others who might attend their meetings. As a result, only about half of those who self-identified as Jehovah's Witnesses in independent demographic studies are considered active by the faith itself. The 2008 US Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey found a low retention rate among members of the religion: about 37% of people raised in the religion continued to identify themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite this, the National Council of Churches concluded that Jehovah's Witnesses "had the largest growth of any single denomination " with a 4.7% increase in 2009.