SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the second-fastest growing church in the United States, according to the 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, published by the National Council of Churches.
The Church reached 12,560,869 members worldwide at the end of 2005, with 5,690,672 in the United States.
The countries with the highest membership are:
- United States — 5,691,000*
- Mexico — 1,044,000
- Brazil — 929,000
- Philippines — 553,000
- Chile — 539,000
- Peru — 416,000
- Argentina — 348,000
- Guatemala — 201,000
- Canada — 172,000
- Ecuador — 171,000
"The numbers don’t tell the real story," a Church spokesman said. "The real measure of Latter-day Saints is the depth of their faith and how it changes people’s lives."
*Figures rounded to the nearest thousand