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Charts show Church’s ongoing growth through 191 years

Conferencegoers stand as general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enter the Conference Center for the church's 192nd Annual General Conference in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 2, 2022. Credit: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Church membership reached 16.8 million in 2021. Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News
The number of dedicated temples reached 170 during 2021. Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News
The number of wards and branches topped 31,300 during 2021. Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News
The number of stakes reached 3,498 during 2021. Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News
Women rise in song during the women’s session of the 192nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 2, 2022. Credit: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Church growth — as counted by numbers of members, dedicated temples, congregations and stakes — continues 192 years after the faith’s founding.

Church membership reached 16.8 million in 2021.
Church membership reached 16.8 million in 2021. | Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News

The 2021 statistical report for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was released last month, during the Church’s 192nd Annual General Conference. Church membership during 2021 topped 16.8 million, up from 16.66 million at the end of 2020.

The number of dedicated temples reached 170 during 2021.
The number of dedicated temples reached 170 during 2021. | Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News

As 2021 closed, the Church had 170 dedicated temples. The 171st, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was dedicated May 8; two more are scheduled for dedication in the next six weeks. Construction is underway on 48 temples, and an additional 61 have been announced.

The number of wards and branches topped 31,300 during 2021.
The number of wards and branches topped 31,300 during 2021. | Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News

From Dec. 31, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2021, the number of congregations — wards and branches — grew from 31,136 to 31,315.

The number of stakes reached 3,498 during 2021.
The number of stakes reached 3,498 during 2021. | Credit: Aaron Thorup, for Church News

With two additional stakes created in early 2022, the number of stakes has now reached the milestone of 3,500 — a little more than nine years after the 3,000th stake was organized, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on Dec. 2, 2012. Fourteen years lapsed between creation of the Church’s 2,500th and 3,000th stakes.

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