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

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.

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.

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

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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