SEOUL, April 14 (Korea Bizwire) – The growth in the number of new Catholics hit a 70-year low last year in South Korea amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of South Korea Catholics totaled 5,923,300 as of the end of last year, up 0.15 percent or 8,631 from a year ago, according to the statistical data released on Tuesday by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea.
This data is compiled by 16 dioceses nationwide.
Last year’s growth rate was lower than the 0.9 percent recorded in 2018 and 0.8 percent in 2019. It also represented the lowest growth since 1954.
The proportion of Catholics to total population (52.97 million) stood at 11.2 percent last year. The number of South Koreans who were baptized last year totaled 30,285, down 62.6 percent from 81,039 a year ago.
Image Credit: Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea / Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
