Church Statistics

Church Attendance in Colombia: Statistics and Numbers (2026)

Colombia was long one of Latin America's most Catholic countries, but identity and practice are shifting fast. Here are the sourced numbers on church attendance, Catholic decline, and the rise of Protestants and the unaffiliated in Colombia.

Pray FocusMarijan DivkovicSeptember 7, 20267 min read

In short

About 40% of Colombian Catholics attend religious services at least weekly, according to the Pew Research Center. But Catholic identity is falling fast: Catholic identification dropped 19 points, from 79% in 2013-14 to 60% in 2024, the largest decline in Latin America. Meanwhile 17% of Colombians are Protestant and 14% practice no religion, according to Latinobarometro. Women are more likely than men to pray and to attend religious services.

  • About 40% of Colombian Catholics attend religious services at least weekly (Pew Research Center, 2024).
  • Catholic identification fell 19 points, from 79% in 2013-14 to 60% in 2024, the largest drop in Latin America (Pew Research Center).
  • 17% of Colombians are Protestant and 14% practice no religion (Latinobarometro, 2023).
  • Women are more likely than men to pray and to attend religious services (Pew Research Center, 2024).

Colombia was long one of Latin America's most Catholic countries, but that identity is changing fast. About 40% of Colombian Catholics still attend religious services at least weekly, according to the Pew Research Center. Yet Catholic identification has fallen sharply, dropping 19 points from 79% in 2013-14 to 60% in 2024, the largest decline of any country in Latin America. At the same time other traditions and the unaffiliated are growing: 17% of Colombians are Protestant and 14% now practice no religion, according to Latinobarometro. The figures below draw on the Pew Research Center and Latinobarometro, the most authoritative sources on religious practice in Colombia.

40%

of Colombian Catholics attend services at least weekly

60%

of Colombians identify as Catholic (down from 79%)

17%

of Colombians are Protestant

14%

of Colombians practice no religion

Key findings at a glance

MetricValueYearSource
Catholics attending services at least weekly40%2024Pew Research Center
Catholic identification (down from 79%)60%2024Pew Research Center
Drop in Catholic identification since 2013-1419 points2024Pew Research Center
Protestant Colombians17%2023Latinobarometro (2023)
Colombians with no religion14%2023Latinobarometro (2023)
Every figure below is traceable to the primary source that reports it, with its data year. Attendance and belief figures come from the Pew Research Center; identity shares for Protestants and the unaffiliated come from Latinobarometro.

How often do Colombians attend church?

Colombia remains among the more observant countries in Latin America. Weekly attendance is still common among those who identify as Catholic, and women in particular are more likely to pray and to attend religious services.

40%
2024

About 40% of Colombian Catholics attend religious services at least weekly, according to the Pew Research Center.

Higher
2024

Women in Colombia are more likely than men to pray and to attend religious services, according to the Pew Research Center.

StatisticValueYearSource
Catholics attending services at least weekly40%2024Pew Research Center
Women more likely to pray than menYes2024Pew Research Center
Women more likely to attend services than menYes2024Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center reports that women in Colombia are more likely than men to pray and to attend religious services, a gender gap seen across much of Latin America.

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The steepest Catholic decline in the region

Colombia was once overwhelmingly Catholic, but its Catholic identity has eroded faster than anywhere else in Latin America. Over about a decade, Catholic identification fell by nearly a fifth of the population.

60%
2024

Catholic identification in Colombia fell to 60% in 2024, down from 79% in 2013-14, according to the Pew Research Center.

19 points
2024

The 19-point drop in Catholic identification, from 79% in 2013-14 to 60% in 2024, was the largest decline in Latin America, according to the Pew Research Center.

StatisticValueYearSource
Catholic identification (2013-14)79%2013-14Pew Research Center
Catholic identification (2024)60%2024Pew Research Center
Decline over the period19 points2024Pew Research Center
Rank of decline in Latin AmericaLargest2024Pew Research Center
The 19-point fall in Catholic identification, from 79% in 2013-14 to 60% in 2024, was the largest drop of any country the Pew Research Center studied in Latin America.

Evangelical growth and the unaffiliated

As Catholic identity has declined, other traditions and the religiously unaffiliated have grown. Protestant and evangelical churches now claim a substantial minority, and a growing share of Colombians report no religion at all.

17%
2023

17% of Colombians identify as Protestant, according to Latinobarometro.

14%
2023

14% of Colombians practice no religion, according to Latinobarometro.

StatisticValueYearSource
Protestant Colombians17%2023Latinobarometro (2023)
Colombians with no religion14%2023Latinobarometro (2023)
Catholic identification (for comparison)60%2024Pew Research Center
Latinobarometro reports that 17% of Colombians are Protestant and 14% practice no religion, reflecting both evangelical growth and a rising unaffiliated share as Catholic identity declines.

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. Figures on church attendance, the gender gap in prayer and attendance, and the decline in Catholic identification come from the Pew Research Center's 2026 study of religious and spiritual practices in Latin America. Shares for Protestant Colombians and those with no religion come from Latinobarometro (2023). Where data years differ, we use the most recent published year and label it.

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Sources

  1. Pew Research Center, Religious and Spiritual Practices in Latin America (2026)
  2. Latinobarometro (2023)

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