The latest statistics released by the Vatican show that the number of Catholics in the world increased by 15 million in 2010, as did the number of priests and deacons.

The Catholic News Service (CNS) is reporting that the 2012 Annuario Pontificio, a yearbook containing information about every Vatican office as well as every diocese and religious order in the world, revealed that by the end of 2010, the global Catholic population jumped 1.3 percent to a total of 1.196 billion. The number of Catholics declined slightly in South America and dropped considerably in Europe, while increasing just under half a percentage point in Southeast Asia and Africa.

The yearbook also reports that the number of bishops in the world increased from 5,065 to 5,104 and the number of priests also rose from 410,593 to 412,236. The number of priests increased everywhere except in Europe.

This trend seems destined to continue as the number of seminarians around the world showed continued growth, from 117,978 at the end of 2009 to 118,990 at the end of 2010.  However, some areas of the world saw a decrease, such as in Europe, which saw a 10.4 percent drop in the number of seminarians between 2005 and 2010.

Permanent deacons have also been exanding their ranks with the number as of Dec. 31, 2010 standing at 39,564 – an increase of more than 1,400 over the previous year. Ninety-seven percent of these deacons live either in the Americas or in Europe.

The biggest declines were seen in religious orders with the number of men joining religious orders increasing by only 436 in 2010, a number the Vatican called “a setback.”

The number of women in religious orders continued to decline by more than 7,000 in 2010. The only increases were found in Asia and Africa. Overall, the number of women in Catholic women’s orders is now down to 721,935 members. 

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