In short
Argentina remains a majority-Catholic country, but the Catholic Church is shrinking. In the CONICET/CEIL Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs (2019), 62.9% of Argentines identified as Catholic, down from 76.5% in 2008. Over the same period evangelicals rose from 9.0% to 15.3%, and people with no religion rose from 11.3% to 18.9%. Pew Research Center (2024) reports the religiously unaffiliated in Argentina roughly doubled to about 24%, with more unaffiliated adults than Protestants, even as belief in God stays very high across Latin America.
- Catholics fell to 62.9% of the population in 2019, down from 76.5% in 2008, according to the CONICET/CEIL Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs.
- Evangelicals rose to 15.3% in 2019, up from 9.0% in 2008 (CONICET).
- People with no religion rose to 18.9% in 2019, up from 11.3% in 2008 (CONICET).
- Pew Research Center (2024) reports the religiously unaffiliated roughly doubled to about 24%, and there are now more unaffiliated adults than Protestants in Argentina.
Argentina has long been one of the most Catholic countries in Latin America, and it remains majority Catholic today. But the picture is changing fast: the Catholic Church is shrinking while evangelical churches and the religiously unaffiliated grow. The authoritative national study is the Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs and Attitudes conducted by CONICET through its CEIL institute, with fieldwork in 2019 compared against the first survey in 2008. It found Catholics down to 62.9% of the population from 76.5%, evangelicals up to 15.3% from 9.0%, and people with no religion up to 18.9% from 11.3%. Pew Research Center adds regional context for 2024. The two sources use different methods and years, so their figures differ, and the numbers below trace each figure to its primary source with its data year.
Key findings at a glance
| Metric | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic | 62.9% | 2019 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| Evangelical | 15.3% | 2019 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| No religion | 18.9% | 2019 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| Catholic (previous survey) | 76.5% | 2008 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| Religiously unaffiliated (Pew) | about 24% | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Catholic decline over the past decade (Pew) | 9 points or more | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
How many Argentines are Catholic, and how fast is that changing?
Argentina is still a majority-Catholic country, but the Catholic share of the population is falling steadily. The clearest measure comes from the CONICET/CEIL Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs and Attitudes, which repeated in 2019 the questions first asked in 2008. Over just over a decade, the Catholic share dropped by nearly 14 percentage points.
In 2019, 62.9% of the Argentine population identified as Catholic, according to the CONICET/CEIL Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs.
In 2008, 76.5% of the Argentine population identified as Catholic, according to the CONICET/CEIL first national survey.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic share of the population | 62.9% | 2019 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| Catholic share of the population | 76.5% | 2008 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| Catholic (Pew regional context) | about 24% unaffiliated | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
Build a daily prayer habit
Pray Focus helps you pray every day by gently locking distracting apps during your prayer time.
The rise of evangelicals and the unaffiliated
As the Catholic share falls, two groups are growing: evangelical Christians and people with no religion. Both roughly kept pace with each other in the CONICET data, and together they account for most of the ground the Catholic Church has lost since 2008.
In 2019, 15.3% of the Argentine population identified as evangelical, up from 9.0% in 2008, according to CONICET/CEIL.
In 2019, 18.9% of the Argentine population reported no religion, up from 11.3% in 2008, according to CONICET/CEIL.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evangelical | 15.3% | 2019 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| Evangelical (previous survey) | 9.0% | 2008 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| No religion | 18.9% | 2019 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| No religion (previous survey) | 11.3% | 2008 | CONICET (CEIL) |
| More unaffiliated adults than Protestants (Pew) | yes | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
Belief stays high even as the Church shrinks
Falling church affiliation does not mean Argentines are abandoning belief in God. Pew Research Center finds that belief in God remains very high across Latin America, including Argentina, even as formal Catholic identity declines and the unaffiliated grow. Much of the shift is a move away from institutional religion rather than away from faith itself.
By 2024, the religiously unaffiliated in Argentina had roughly doubled to about 24%, according to Pew Research Center.
The Catholic share in Argentina dropped by 9 percentage points or more over the past decade, according to Pew Research Center.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Religiously unaffiliated (roughly doubled) | about 24% | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Catholic decline over the past decade | 9 points or more | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Belief in God across Latin America | very high | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
How we compiled these statistics
Every number on this page is traceable to a primary source and dated to the year the data were collected. The Catholic, evangelical, and no-religion shares come from the CONICET/CEIL Second National Survey on Religious Beliefs and Attitudes, whose 2019 fieldwork is compared against the first survey in 2008; it is the authoritative national study of religion in Argentina. The figures on the religiously unaffiliated, the pace of Catholic decline, and belief in God come from Pew Research Center (2024). CONICET (2019) and Pew (2024) use different methods and reference years, which is why their figures for the unaffiliated (18.9% versus about 24%) differ; we report each with its own source and year rather than blending them.
Want to slow down and pray instead of scrolling through social media? Pray Focus pairs distraction-free prayer time with a free library of Scripture-based and traditional prayers by theme, Catholic, Protestant, and beyond.
Learn to pray.Make it a daily habit.
One email at a time, at your pace
Join our free email course and learn simple, time-tested ways to pray, with one small thing to try each time, so prayer slowly becomes part of your day.
- 8 short lessons: the Daily Examen, Lectio Divina, ACTS and more
- One tiny exercise each time, so praying becomes a habit
- Gentle and practical, never preachy. Free, forever.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
Related articles
Church Statistics
Church Attendance Statistics: Weekly Attendance Now vs Two Decades Ago (2025)
Weekly church attendance in the US has fallen from about 42% two decades ago to roughly 30% today. Here is what Gallup, Pew, PRRI, and the Hartford Institute actually found, including a first rise in congregation attendance in 25 years.
Church Statistics
Christianity in America: Statistics and Trends (2025)
About 62% of US adults identify as Christian, down from 78% in 2007 but broadly stable since 2019. Here is what Pew, PRRI, and Gallup actually found on belief, prayer, attendance, and the decline that appears to have leveled off.
Church Statistics
Global Christianity Statistics: How Many Christians (2025)
About 2.65 billion Christians worldwide in 2025, still the largest faith, with 68.9% now in the Global South. Here is what Gordon-Conwell, Pew, and the Vatican actually found on the size and shape of world Christianity.