42.6%
GLOBAL OVERVIEW(1)
Based on religion
31.2% Christian
26.3% gospel access*
42.6% unreached
Based on Population
World population 8.08 billion
Population in UPGs: 3.44 billion
% of population in UPGs: 42.6%
Based on People Groups
Total People Groups: 17,259
Total UPGS: 7,220
% of people in UPG: 41.8%
*Access to the Gospel but not following Jesus
Progress
by Population(1)
Unreached
3.4 billion
Few evangelicals and few who identify as Christians. Little, if any, history of Christianity.
42.6%
Minimally Reached
252 million
Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.
3.1%
Superficially Reached
548 million
Few evangelicals, but many who identify as Christians. In great need of spiritual renewal and commitment to biblical faith.
6.8%
Partially Reached
1.99 billion
Evangelicals have a modest presence.
24.7%
Significantly Reached
1.84 billion
Evangelicals have a significant presence.
22.8%
Progress by
people group(1)
Unreached
41.8%
7,220 People Groups (41.8%)
Few evangelicals and few who identify as Christians. Little, if any, history of Christianity.
Minimally reached
6.5%
1,126 People Groups (6.5%)
Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.
Superficially reached
10.4%
1,812 People Groups (10.4%)
Few evangelicals, but many who identify as Christians. In great need of spiritual renewal and commitment to biblical faith.
Partially reached
22.3%
3,842 People Groups (22.3%)
Evangelicals have a modest presence.
Significantly reached
19.1%
3,294 People Groups (19.1%)
Evangelicals have a significant presence.
Summary of
Other World
Religions(1)
Muslims
2.021 billion worldwide
4,002 total people groups
3,432 UPGs
85.8% unreached
25.0% of world population
Hindus
1.220 billion worldwide
2,396 total people groups
2,205 UPGs
92.0% unreached
15.1% of world population
Unreligious
1.005 billion worldwide
264 total people groups
15 UPGs
5.7% unreached
12.4% of world population
Buddhists
502 million worldwide
666 total people groups
510 UPGs
76.6% unreached
6.2% of world population
Ethnic
741 million worldwide
2,641 total people groups
927 UPGS
35.1% unreached
9.2% of world population
Money and
Missions
$70
Trillion(4)
what Christians Earn: $70 Trillion annual income of all church members
$1.3
Trillion(4)
given to any Christian cause
$78
Billion(7)
given to missions
How Christian
Giving Is Used(5)
$734 Billion
used for pastoral ministries of local churches (mostly in Christian nations)
82%
$107.5 Billion
used for “home missions” in same Christian nations
12%
$51.7 Billion
goes toward un-evangelized non-Christian world
5.7%
$880 Million
goes toward unreached peoples
1.7%
Hypothetical
Observations(7)
Evangelical Christians could provide all of the funds needed to plant a church in every unreached people group with only .007% of their annual income.
The Church has roughly 14,000 times the financial resources and 36,000 times the manpower needed to finish the Great Commission. If every evangelical gave 1% of their income to missions we could easily support 10 million new missionaries.
Missionaries
Worldwide
433,700 foreign missionaries in the world (estimated) (5)
337,000 foreign missionaries in the reached world (77.3%)
85,000 foreign missionaries in the unevangelized world (19.4%)
11,700 foreign missionaries in the unreached world (2.7%) (8)
Observations(7,2)
Only 1 of every 174,463 Christians goes as a missionary to the unreached
There are 57,053 evangelical Christians for every 1 UPG
“Reaching the world with the gospel is not a resource problem, it is a mobilization problem.”—Claude Hickman, The Traveling Team
Muslims
1 for every 405,510
Buddhists
1 for every 260,001
Hindus
1 for every 179,006
Unreligious
1 for every 71,048
Tribals
1 for every 60,009
Bible Translation(9)
7,396
Total languages in the world
756
Languages with a complete Bible
1,726
Languages with a complete New Testament (also have some Old Testament portions)
1,274
Languages with some translated Bible portions
Languages with
no Bible Translation
1,524
Languages have work in progress
985
Languages need translation (or preparatory work) to begin
1,131
Languages that are not vital enough to plan translation work
The need
6,640
languages do not have a full Bible in their first language
985
languages need translation work to begin
10/40 Window(1)
68.7%
(5,979) of these people groups are considered unreached
5.37 Billion
total people in 10/40 Window
3.32 Billion
total people UNREACHED in 10/40 Window
10/40 Facts
1/3
of earth’s total land area
Nearly 2/3
of the world’s people reside in the 10/40 window
80%+
of the poorest of the poor live in the 10/40 window
60%
of UPGs live in countries closed to missionaries from North America(7)
Missions
Awareness(3)
70%
of evangelical Christians are unaware that there are still people who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ
29%
of Christians believe that reaching the unreached around the world is “very urgent”
Have churchgoers heard of the great commission?
No
51%
Yes, but I can’t recall its exact meaning
25%
Yes, and it means…
17%
7%
I’m not sure
Footnotes.
All mission stats reviewed and partially updated November 2024
- 1. The Joshua Project. https://joshuaproject.net/.
- 2. Global Frontier Missions. "State of the World, The Task Remaining," https://www.globalfrontiermissions.org/missions-101/state-of-the-world-the-task-remaining
- 3. Barna Group. “Translating The Great Commission.” Barna Report, 2018.
- 4. “Status of Global Christianity,” Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2024, https://www.thetravelingteam.org/s/Status-of-Global-Christianity-2024.pdf
- 5. Todd M. Johnson & Gina A. Zurlo, eds. World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2015).
- 6. David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson. World Christian Trends Table (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2001) Table 20-3, lines 23-26, 44.
- 7. The Traveling Team. “Missions Stats.” 2024. http://www.thetravelingteam.org/stats.
- 8. Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds. World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
- 9. Wycliffe Global Alliance. "2024 Global Scripture Access." https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/statistics/
- Note: It is not feasible to update many missions statistics on an annual basis, but information from sources 1, 4, 7, and 9 are updated at least annually and incorporated into this page.