wfn.org | Almost 61 Million Lutherans in the World

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 6, 1997

ALMOST 61 MILLION LUTHERANS IN THE WORLD
97-03-006-LWI

     GENEVA (ELCA) -- There were 60,978,623 Lutherans worldwide
in 1996, according to information released here by the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF).  The comparable figures for 1995 and 1994
were 60.1 million and 59.7 million respectively.
     The 122 member churches and 12 recognized congregations of
the LWF totaled 57.3 million members in 1996, compared with 56.5
million in 1995 and close to 56.1 million in 1994.  At the end of
1996, over 3.6 million Lutherans worldwide did not belong to the
LWF, an increase of about 15,000 compared with the previous year.
     The 7.6-million-member Church of Sweden remained the world's
largest Lutheran church, followed by the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America with nearly 5.2 million members and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland with just under 4.6
million.
     Germany, where the Lutheran tradition has its origin, had
the largest number of Lutherans in any one country.  Its Lutheran
churches have a combined membership of close to 14.2 million,
ahead of the United States with nearly 8.3 million.
     The most significant increases in membership were reported
by the two largest Lutheran churches in Africa.  The Ethiopian
Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus recorded an increase of over
400,000 members, while the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Tanzania grew by 100,000.  The biggest decline was reported by
the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church in northern Germany,
from 2.5 million to 2.35 million -- a decrease of over 150,000.
These changes compare with figures submitted by the three
churches in 1994.
     A reported increase in the membership of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States, from 50,000 to
250,000, is due to a change in the way of counting members.
     The largest increase in any one region was reported in
Africa, where the overall total of Lutherans rose by over 718,000
compared with the previous year.  In Asia the net increase was
over 82,000, in Europe over 27,000 and in Latin America over
23,000.  North America recorded a net decrease of more than
11,000.
     The largest concentration of Lutheranism and the LWF is in
Europe, at over 37.3 million members.  North America has just
under 8.6 million Lutherans, of whom 5.4 million belong to the
LWF.  Almost all of Africa's over 8.6 million Lutherans are
members of the federation.  Asia has over 4.9 million Lutherans,
of whom more than 4.8 million belong to the LWF.  Of the 1.4
million Lutherans in Latin America, over 1.1 million are members
of the LWF.
     The membership statistics are based on information supplied
to the LWF Office for Communication Services by the churches.  Of
the federation's 122 member churches, 79 supplied information.
Of these, 31 reported increases and 19 decreases of at least
1,000 members respectively compared with previous figures.
Latest available figures are cited in the case of those churches
whose replies were not received by end November 1996.

                         * * * * * * *

                    LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION
                1996 MEMBERSHIP FIGURES - SUMMARY

The following figures give the membership of the 122 LWF member
churches, and 12 recognized congregations, as well as other
Lutheran churches or bodies in contact with the Lutheran World
Federation.  Figures identified with an asterisk (*) include the
membership of Baltic churches abroad.

General Summary 1996
122 LWF member churches and
12 recognized congregations             57,338,176
Lutherans outside LWF constituency       3,640,447
Total                                   60,978,623

Regional totals

               All Lutherans      LWF Membership     Other Contacts

Africa           8,659,300           8,590,845              68,455
Asia             4,955,409           4,839,529             115,880
Europe          37,369,667 (*)      37,369,667               ---
Latin America    1,404,881           1,131,963             272,918
North America    8,589,366 (*)       5,406,172           3,183,194

TOTAL           60,978,623          57,338,176           3,640,447

Countries with more than 500,000 Lutherans

Germany                       (*)14,178,295
USA                           (*) 8,298,839
Sweden                            7,600,000
Finland                           4,582,152
Denmark                           4,541,650
Norway                            3,800,000
Indonesia                         2,440,500
Tanzania                          2,300,000
Ethiopia                          2,091,851
Madagascar                        1,500,000
India                             1,288,441
Brazil                            1,208,188
Papua New Guinea                    910,000
South Africa                        886,837
Namibia                             697,000

Lutheran Churches with more than 500,000 members

Church of Sweden                                   7,600,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America             5,190,489
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland             4,582,152
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark             4,541,650
Church of Norway                                   3,800,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover (Germany)   3,293,241
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (Germany)   2,772,000
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (USA and Canada)    2,600,000
     (Note:  The LCMS is not an LWF member church.)
Evangelical Church in Wuerttemberg (Germany)       2,450,000
North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (Germany) 2,353,816
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania            2,300,000
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus          2,091,851
Protestant Christian Batak Church (Indonesia)      1,559,478
Malagasy Lutheran Church (Madagascar)              1,500,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony (Germany)    1,114,000
Evangelical of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil   1,000,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea      815,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa       768,998
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia (Germany)   663,000

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html