Eastern Orthodoxy by country
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Based on the numbers of adherents, the Eastern Orthodox Church (also known as Eastern Orthodoxy) is the second largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church, with the most common estimates of adherents being around 220 million.[1][2][3]
Eastern Orthodox Church is the third-largest religious community in the world, after Sunni Islam and the Catholic Church.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
Overview
In 2025, Russia was home to most of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians, with 101.5 million of them living within Russia borders (72%); at the same time, Ukraine had 27.8 million people following the religion (65.4%), followed by Romania (16.3 million or 81.1%), Greece (9.4 million or 90%) and Belarus (7.8 million or 83.3%).[12] It was the most popular religion in Moldova, with 93.3% of that country following Eastern Orthodoxy.
In 2024, Eastern Orthodoxy was the predominant religion in Russia (62%),[13] where roughly half the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians live. The religion is also heavily concentrated in the rest of Eastern Europe, where in 2007 it was the majority religion in Ukraine (65.4%[14]–77%),[15] Romania (82%),[16] Belarus (48%[17]–73%[18]), Greece (95%–98%),[16] Serbia (97%),[16] Moldova (93%),[16] Georgia (84%),[16] North Macedonia (65%),[16] Cyprus (89%)[16] and Montenegro (72%);[16] it is also predominant in the disputed territories of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. In 2021, it was the dominant religion in Bulgaria (62.7%).[19][20]
At the start of the 21st century, significant minorities were present in several European countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina (31%),[16] Latvia (18%), Estonia (14%), Albania (7%),[21] Lithuania (4%), Croatia (4%), Slovenia (2%), and Finland (1.5%). In the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, Eastern Orthodoxy constituted the dominant religion in northern Kazakhstan, representing 23.9% of the population of the region in 2013.[22] It was also a significant minority in Kyrgyzstan (17%), Turkmenistan (5%), Uzbekistan (5%), Azerbaijan (2%),[16] and Tajikistan (1%). In the Levant, the most significant Eastern Orthodox populations are[when?] in Lebanon (8%),[23] Syria (5–8% prior to the 2011 civil war) in Palestine (0.5%–2.5%)[24] and Jordan (over 1%).[citation needed]
The percentage of Christians in Turkey, home to an historically large and influential Eastern Orthodox community, fell from 19% in 1914 to 2.5% in 1927,[25] due to genocide,[26] demographic upheavals caused by the population exchange between Greece and Turkey,[27] and the emigration of Christians to foreign countries (mostly in Europe and the Americas).[28] In 2021, there were 130,000 Orthodox Christians in Turkey (mainly adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church).[29] In 2022, there was a large increase in the number of Eastern Orthodox Christians in Turkey to over 150,000 people; this included approximately 100,000 people escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[30]
In 2010, there were 39 million Oriental Orthodox Christians in Africa, although 39 million of them lived in Ethiopia or Eritrea; in 2021 and 2022, the Russian Orthodox Church opened more than 200 parishes throughout the continent, and had plans to build a cathedral in Johannesburg.[31]
Recent[when?] immigration and missionary activity have raised[citation needed] the numbers of Eastern Orthodox adherents in traditionally Catholic and Protestant countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and Switzerland, where they comprise roughly 2% of the population in each.[citation needed]
Eastern Orthodox population by country
There is no universal agreement on the number of members of the Eastern Orthodox Church in each country. Each study performed that seeks to discover the number of adherents in a country may use different criteria, and be submitted to different populations. As such, some numbers may be inflated, and therefore inaccurate. Examples of this are Greece and Russia, where estimates of adherence to Eastern Orthodoxy may reach 80–98%, but where surveys found lower percentages professing Eastern Orthodoxy or belief in God. The likely reason for this disparity is that many people in majority Eastern Orthodox countries will culturally identify with the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially if they were baptized as children, even if they are not currently practicing. This includes those who may be irreligious, yet culturally identify with the Eastern Orthodox Church, or for whom Eastern Orthodox Christianity is listed on official state records. Other cases of incongruent data also might be due to counting ethnic groups from Eastern Orthodox countries rather than actual adherents. For example, the Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, which has large numbers of immigrants from Eastern Orthodox countries, have collectively reported a total of 2–3 million across the country.[citation needed]
However, a 2010 study by Alexei Krindatch sought data from each parish, with the specific criteria of annual participation, discovering that there were only about 817,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians actively practicing their faith (i.e., attending church services on a regular basis) in the United States. The study explained that such a difference was due to a variety of circumstances, for example the higher numbers having counted all people who self-identify as Eastern Orthodox on a census regardless of active participation, or all people belonging to ethnic groups originating in Eastern Orthodox countries. This study, while initially controversial, proved groundbreaking, and has since been officially approved for use by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America.[citation needed][32]
| Country | Total population | % Eastern Orthodox | Eastern Orthodox total |
|---|---|---|---|
 Albania (details) |
2,621,977 | 7.22%[B] | 173,645[B][33] |
 Armenia (details) |
3,018,854 | 0.25% | 7,587[34] |
 Australia (details) |
23,824,600 | 2.6% | 563,100[35] |
 Austria (details) |
8,773,000 | 6% | 500,000 |
 Azerbaijan (details) |
9,624,900 | 2.5% | 240,000 |
 Belarus (details) |
9,349,645 | 83.3%[36] | 7,788,254 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (details) |
3,502,227 | 31%[16] | 1,086,733 |
 Brazil (details) |
210,147,125 | 0.064% | 135,000 |
 Bulgaria (details) |
6,445,481[37] | 63.5%[38] | 4,091,780 |
 Canada (details) |
33,476,688 | 1.7% | 550,690[39] |
 China (details) |
1,386,000,000 | 0.001% | 15,000 |
 Croatia (details) |
4,284,889 | 4.44%[40] | 195,969 |
 Cyprus (details) |
838,897 | 89.1%[16] | 781,900 |
 Czech Republic (details) |
10,538,275 | 0.2% | 20,533 |
 Egypt (details) |
105,000,000 | 0.3% | 350,000[41] |
 Estonia (details) |
1,294,486 | 13.66% | 176,773[42][43] |
 France (details) |
67,150,000 | 1% | 500,000–700,000[44] |
 Fiji (details) |
912,241 | 0.02% | 200+[45] |
 Finland (details) |
5,477,359 | 1.1%[46] | 70,000 |
 Georgia (details) |
3,713,804 | 83.4% | 3,097,312 |
 Germany (details) |
84,270,625 | 3.56% | 3,000,000[47] |
 Greece (details) |
10,423,054 | 90%[48] | 9,380,749 |
 Grenada (details) |
107,317 | 0.1% | 100[49] |
 Guatemala (details) |
17,263,239 | 3% | 200,000–550,000 |
 Israel (details) |
9,010,050[16] | 0.67%[16] | 100,000 |
 Italy (details) |
60,795,612 | 1.5% | 900,000[50] |
 Japan (details) |
126,226,568 | 0.02% | 20,000[51] |
 Jordan (details) |
9,531,712 | 2–4.5% | 150,000–350,000 |
 Kazakhstan (details) |
17,948,816 | 23.9% | 4,300,000[22] |
 Korea, South (details) |
51,413,925 | 0.01% | 6,000 |
 Kosovo* (details) |
1,433,842 | 1.5%[A] | 25,837[C] |
 Kyrgyzstan (details) |
5,895,100 | 17%[52] | 1,000,000 |
 Latvia (details) |
2,027,000 | 17.9% | 370,000[53] |
 Lebanon (details) |
4,525,247 | 9% | 330,000 |
 Lithuania (details) |
2,966,954 | 4.2% | 125,189[54] |
 Madagascar (details) |
26,262,313 | 0.06% | 15,000[55] |
 Mexico (details) |
121,736,809 | 0.01% | 15,000 |
 Moldova (details) |
3,383,332 | 93.3% | 3,158,015[56] |
 Montenegro (details) |
629,320 | 81% | 509,749[57] |
 New Zealand (details) |
4,599,327 | 0.3% | 13,883[22] |
 North Macedonia (details) |
2,022,547 | 69.8% | 1,610,184[58] |
 Norway (details) |
5,328,212 | 0.41% | 21,993[59] |
 Palestine (details) |
4,550,368 | 2.5%[24] | 100,000 |
 Philippines |
109,035,343[60] | 0.002% | 2,500[61] |
 Poland (details) |
38,386,000 | 1.4% | 504,400[62] |
 Romania (details) |
20,121,641 | 81.1% | 16,321,389[63] |
 Russia (details)[64] |
145,500,000 | 61.8%[13][65]-72%[66][67] | 101,450,000[67]–104,000,000[68][69] |
 Serbia (details) |
7,237,375 | 84% | 6,079,395[70] |
 Slovakia (details) |
5,397,036 | 0.9% | 49,133[71] |
 Slovenia (details) |
2,055,496 | 2.2% | 45,000 |
 Spain (details) |
46,464,053 | 3.1% | 1,500,000 |
 Sweden (details) |
9,775,572 | 1.5% | 145,279[72] |
 Switzerland (details) |
8,211,700 | 1.7% | 140,000[73] |
 Syria (details) |
22,457,336 | 3.1% | 700,000 |
 Tajikistan (details) |
8,208,000 | 2% | 160,000 |
 Transnistria (details) |
505,153 | 91%[74] | 460,000 |
 Turkey (details) |
84,277,439 | 0.02% | 16,000[75] |
 Turkmenistan (details) |
5,171,643 | 5.3%[76] | 270,000 |
 Ukraine (details) |
40,000,000 | 65.4–76.6%[15] | 27,802,000[14]–34,850,000[15] |
 United States (details) |
321,163,157 | 0.3% | 1,043,850[77] |
 United Kingdom (details) |
67,886,011 | 0.7% | 475,000 |
 Uzbekistan (details) |
29,559,100 | 5%[78] | 1,000,000 |
| TOTAL | 3,331,625,296 | 4%[79] | ~220 million[6] |
| A Unreliable census (boycotted by most Serbs). |
| B Unreliable census |
Eastern Orthodox Church by jurisdiction
Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches
The Eastern Orthodox Church is organized as a union of several autocephalous subdivisions, which are also called "Churches" (or, sometimes, "jurisdictions"). Some are associated with a specific country, while others are not. This table presents some known data regarding individual jurisdictions. "NA" means that data is not available.
| Jurisdiction | Bishops | Priests | Monastics | Monasteries | Parishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constantinople | 125 | NA | 1,800[Note 1] | 142 | 648 |
| Alexandria | 41 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Antioch | 36 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Jerusalem | 20 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Russia | 217 | 30,675 | NA | 807 | 30,142 |
| Serbia | 45 | NA | NA | 286 | 3,100 |
| Romania | 53 | 15,068 | 7,605 | 359 | 15,717 |
| Bulgaria | 15 | 1,500 | NA | 120 | 2,600 |
| Georgia | 37 | 730 | NA | NA | 600 |
| Cyprus | 16 | NA | NA | 67 | NA |
| Greece | 101 | 10,000 | 3,541[80] | 646[80] | 9,146[81] |
| Poland | 12 | NA | NA | NA | 400 |
| Albania | 6 | 135 | NA | 150 | 909 |
| Czech Lands & Slovakia | 6 | NA | NA | NA | 172 |
| Orthodox Church in America | 50 | 2700 | NA | 100 | 1200 |
| Ukraine | 62 | 4,500 | NA | 71 | 7,000[82][83] |
| North Macedonia | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Total | 743 | 54,382 | 12,946 | 2,256 | 61,939 |
Notes
- This is including Mount Athos