Congo (Democratic Republic of)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which covers a central portion of the African continent just below the equator, is Africa’s second-largest country by land area and the fourth-largest by population. Its territory incorporates people from more than 200 ethnolinguistic groups, each with distinctive cultural traditions. Though estimates of its Catholic population size vary, the DRC is home to the largest Catholic population in Africa and the seventh-largest in the world.

National Demographics

Religious Affiliation

Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010

Total Population

84,004,989 1

Urban

44.5% 1

Rural

55.5% 1

Immigrants as % of Population

1.1% 2

Level of Public Corruption

20 (100 is very clean, 0 is highly corrupt) 4

Fertility Rate

6.20 live births per woman 5

Under-Five Mortality Rate

79.00 deaths per 1,000 live births 5

Life Expectancy at Birth

59 years 5

Adult Literacy Rate

75.02% 6

Internet Users

23% 6

GDP per Capita

US$581 5

Population Living Below US$2.15 per Day

78.9% 7

Gender Gap Ranking based on economy, health, education, and politics

140 (146 is the lowest ranked country; 1 is the highest ranked country) 8

Religious Freedom: Government Restrictions Index (GRI)

1.2 - Low

Religious Freedom: Social Hostilities Index (SHI)

5.4 - High

1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition (New York: United Nations, 2018).
2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2020 (New York: United Nations, 2020).
3 Data as of 2021. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, "Intentional Homicide," United Nations, Accessed April 9, 2024; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Study on Homicide 2023 (Vienna: United Nations, 2023).
4 "2023 Corruption Perceptions Index," Transparency International, Accessed April 9, 2024.
5 United Nations Children's Fund, The State of the World's Children 2023 (Florence: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, 2023).
6 International Telecommunication Union, "Individuals using the Internet (% of population)," The World Bank, Accessed April 24, 2024.
7 Poverty and Inequality Platform, "Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)," The World Bank, Accessed April 24, 2024.
8 World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2023 (Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2023).
9 As Pew describes it, "Government restrictions on religion include laws, policies and actions that regulate and limit religious beliefs and practices. They also include policies that single out certain religious groups or ban certain practices; the granting of benefits to some religious groups but not others; and bureaucratic rules that require religious groups to register to receive benefits." As noted on pp. 45-47 of the report, the index summarizes data from 19 sources. The index does not differentiate whether the laws are directed toward Catholics. Pew Research Center, Globally, Government Restrictions on Religion Reached Peak Levels in 2021, While Social Hostilities Went Down (Pew Research Center, 2024).
10 As Pew describes it, "Social hostilities include actions by private individuals or groups that target religious groups; they also include actions by groups or individuals who use religion to restrict others. The SHI captures events such as religion-related harassment, mob violence, terrorism/militant activity, and hostilities over religious conversions or the wearing of religious symbols and clothing." As noted on pp. 45-47 of the report, the index summarizes data from 19 sources. The index does not differentiate whether the hostilities are directed toward Catholics. Pew Research Center, Globally, Government Restrictions on Religion Reached Peak Levels in 2021, While Social Hostilities Went Down (Pew Research Center, 2024).

Catholic Demographics

These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2022 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2024). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.

Baptized Catholics

53,677

Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population

49.31

Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)

362,696

Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)

273,572

First Communions per Year

326,382

Confirmations per Year

245,555