Global South Growth Deceleration

Executive summary

The Adventist Church's growth engine is overwhelmingly concentrated in the Global South — particularly African divisions and the South Pacific. In 2023, West-Central Africa Division (WAD) and East-Central Africa Division (ECD) saw accession increases of 29% and 26% respectively. Yet beneath these headline numbers, evidence suggests a more complex picture: the global annual growth rate has declined from 6.84% in 2000 to lower rates in the 2010s, with the time to add each half million members fluc...