Demographics of Jehovah's Witnesses

[The Librarian]

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Jehovah’s Witnesses are among the most racially and ethnically diverse religious groups in America. No more than four-in-ten members of the group belong to any one racial and ethnic background: 36% are white, 32% are Hispanic, 27% are black and 6% are another race or mixed race.

Most Jehovah’s Witnesses – roughly two-thirds (65%) – are women, while only 35% are men. Christians worldwide are more likely to be women than men, but this gender gap is particularly large in the context of U.S. Christian groups. For instance, 54% of U.S. Catholics are women.

Compared with other U.S. religious groups, Jehovah’s Witnesses tend to be less educated. A solid majority of adult Jehovah’s Witnesses (63%) have no more than a high school diploma, compared with, for example, 43% of evangelical Protestants and 37% of mainline Protestants.

 

Previously posted data below:

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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 January 2014, Jehovah's Witnesses report an average of 8.2 million publishers—the term they use for members actively involved in preaching—in 113,823 congregations.[2] In 2013, these reports indicated over 1.84 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 8.2 million.[284] In the same year, they conducted "Bible studies" with over 9.2 million individuals, including those conducted by Witness parents with their children.[4][285][286] Jehovah's Witnesses estimate their current worldwide growth rate to be 2.1% per year.[2]

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.[287][288] 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.[289][290]

See also: Pew Religion Study data showing changes from 2007-2014

INTERNAL JW COMMUNITY STATISTICS:

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TOTAL MISSING (average):
1986 to 1995: 12%/yr.
1996 to 2005: 41%/yr.
Number Baptized Who Stop Publishing/Inactive
(baptism minus increase):
1981 to 2013: 80,000/yr.
Disfellowshipped:
1992: ≈1%/yr. (avg.) (Watchtower, 1992, July 1, p. 19)
1985: 1.28%/yr. (Watchtower, 1986, Jan. 1, p. 13)
Reinstated: 0.33%/yr. (avg.) (Watchtower, 1974, Aug. 1, p. 466; Watchtower, 1960, Dec. 1, p. 728)
WORLD POPULATION
World Population Growth: 1.2%/yr. (240,000+ born per day)
World Average Death Rate: 0.85%/yr.