---
title: "Where Christians Live: Large Global Shifts in Last Century"
description: "Although Europe and the Americas still are home to a majority of the world’s Christians (63%), that share is much lower than it was in 1910 (93%)."
date: "2012-01-05"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2012/01/05/where-christians-live-large-global-shifts-in-last-century/"
---

# Where Christians Live: Large Global Shifts in Last Century

Christians make up about the same portion of the world’s population today as they did a century ago. But that apparent stability masks a momentous shift. Although Europe and the Americas still are home to a majority of the world’s Christians (63%), that share is much lower than it was in 1910 (93%). The proportion of Europeans and Americans who are Christian has dropped from 95% in 1910 to 76% in 2010 in Europe as a whole, and from 96% to 86% in the Americas as a whole.

At the same time, Christianity has experienced enormous growth in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, two areas that were home to relatively few Christians at the beginning of the 20th century. The share of the population that is Christian in sub-Saharan Africa climbed from 9% in 1910 to 63% in 2010, and in the Asia-Pacific regionfrom 3% to 7%. Christianity today — unlike a century ago — is truly a global faith. (See [world maps](http://features.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/religion/global-christianity/world-maps/weighted-christian.php?src=prc-headline) weighted by Christian population in 1910 and 2010.) [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/Christian/Global-Christianity-exec.aspx?src=prc-number)