Though 72 percent of its population is Catholic, Chile looks at many times to be quite secular, and at other times quite Catholic. Spontaneous shrines, often markers of a tragic death, dot the country’s roadsides with crosses and religious statues. Hundreds of thousands journey to Marian feasts held throughout the country. On issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, Chileans have recently reversed prior legal bans. In recent years, even since some of the articles here were published, revelations of clergy sexual abuse have radically undermined the Church's credibility there, and the church's influence on the ground is seriously diminished.
National Demographics
Religious Affiliation
Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
Total Population
18,197,209 1
Urban
87.60% 1
Rural
12.40% 1
Immigrants as % of Population
2.6% 2
Level of Public Corruption
24 (1=lowest, 176=highest corruption) 4
Gender Equality in the Economy, Health, Education and Politics
70 (1=most equal, 144=least equal) 7
Fertility Rate
1.75 births per adult woman 5
Children Who Do Not Live to Age 5
0.80% 5
Life Expectancy at Birth
82 years 5
Adult Literacy Rate
96.70% 5
Internet Users
72% 5
Gross National Income per Capita
US$14,910 5
Population Living Below US$1.90 per Day
0.9% 5
Catholic Demographics
These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.
Baptized Catholics
14,405,000
Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
74.03
Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
78,064
Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
14,505
First Communions per Year
32,064
Confirmations per Year
29,435
Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
377,383
Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
214,154
Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
205,039
Church Marriages per Year
6,894
Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition.
2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 revision.
3 United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Homicide Statistics 2015.
4 Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.
