Number of Catholics in Ibero-America fell by 25% over the last 30 years, study indicates

According to a study by Latinobarómetro , the percentage of Ibero-Americans who identify as Catholic has fallen from 80% in 1995 to 55% today, a decline of 25 percentage points over 30 years.

Spain and Portugal comprise the Iberian Peninsula; Ibero-America encompasses those nations who trace their ancestry to either of the two.

The report, based on interviews with more than 2,200 people from 17 countries in Central and South America including Brazil, further notes that Panama has seen the sharpest drop in the percentage of Catholics — from 89% to 46%, a difference of 43 percentage points.

Following Panama are Honduras, Brazil, Argentina, and El Salvador, where the number of Catholics has decreased by approximately one-third.

This decline has been least noticeable in Mexico, having fallen by only 8 percentage points, from 77% to 69%. It is followed by Paraguay, Guatemala, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic, all of which have seen a decline of less than 20 percentage points.

Most Catholic country is Paraguay The Ibero-American country with the highest percentage of Catholics is Paraguay, where eight out of every 10 people identify as members of the Catholic Church…