Based on the numbers of adherents, the Eastern Orthodox Church (also known as Eastern Orthodoxy) is the second largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church, with the most common estimates of adherents being around 220 million.

Eastern Orthodox Church is the third-largest religious community in the world, after Sunni Islam and the Catholic Church.Jay Diamond, Larry. Plattner, Marc F. and Costopoulos, Philip J. World Religions and Democracy. 2005, page 119.(also in PDF file , p. 49), saying "Not only do Protestants presently constitute 13 percent of the world's population—about 800 million people - but since 1900 Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America."

Overview As of 2024, Eastern Orthodoxy was the predominant religion in Russia (62%), where roughly half the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians live. It is heavily concentrated in the rest of Eastern Europe, where it is the majority religion in Ukraine (65%РЕЛІГІЯ, ЦЕРКВА, СУСПІЛЬСТВО І ДЕРЖАВА: ДВА РОКИ ПІСЛЯ МАЙДАНУ (Religion, Church, Society and State: Two Years after Maidan) , 2016 report by Razumkov Center in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches. pp. 27-29.–77%), Romania (73%), Greece (90%), Belarus (60%), Serbia (81%), Bulgaria (62%), Moldova (94%), Georgia (82%), North Macedonia (46%), Cyprus (74%) and Montenegro (71%).

Significant Orthodox minorities were present in several European countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina (31%), Latvia (18%), Estonia (14%), Albania (7%),Religion in Albania#Religious demography Lithuania (4%), Croatia (4%), Slovenia (2%), and Finland (1.5%). In the post-Soviet states of Central Asia, Eastern Orthodoxy constitutes significant minority in Kazakhstan (17%), Turkmenistan (6%), Kyrgyzstan (3%), Uzbekistan (2%), and Azerbaijan (2%). In the Levant, the most significant Eastern Orthodox populations are in Lebanon (8%),Lebanon - International Religious Freedom Report 2010 U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 14 February 2010. Syria (5–8% prior to the 2011 civil war) in Palestine (0.5%–2.5%)The World Factbook and Jordan (over 1%).

The percentage of Christians in Turkey, home to an historically large and influential Eastern Orthodox community, fell from 19% in 1914 to 2.5% in 1927, due to genocide,Schaller, Dominik J; Zimmerer, Jürgen (2008). "Late Ottoman genocides: the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and Young Turkish population and extermination policies - Introduction". Journal of Genocide Research. 10 (1): 7–14. doi:10.1080/14623520801950820. S2CID 71515470. demographic upheavals caused by the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, and the emigration of Christians to foreign countries (mostly in Europe and the Americas). In 2022, there was a large increase in the number of Eastern Orthodox Christians in Turkey to over 150,000 people; this included approximately 100,000 people escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In 2021 and 2022, the Russian Orthodox Church opened more than 200 parishes throughout the continent of Africa, and had plans to build a cathedral in Johannesburg.

Recent immigration and missionary activity have raised the numbers of Eastern Orthodox adherents in traditionally Catholic and Protestant countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and Switzerland, where they comprise roughly 2% of the population in each.

Eastern Orthodox population by country

There is no universal agreement on the number of members of the Eastern Orthodox Church in each country. Each study performed that seeks to discover the number of adherents in a country may use different criteria, and be submitted to different populations. As such, some numbers may be inflated, and therefore inaccurate. Examples of this are Greece and Russia, where estimates of adherence to Eastern Orthodoxy may reach 80–98%, but where surveys found lower percentages professing Eastern Orthodoxy or belief in God. The likely reason for this disparity is that many people in majority Eastern Orthodox countries will culturally identify with the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially if they were baptized as children, even if they are not currently practicing. This includes those who may be irreligious, yet culturally identify with the Eastern Orthodox Church, or for whom Eastern Orthodox Christianity is listed on official state records. Other cases of incongruent data also might be due to counting ethnic groups from Eastern Orthodox countries rather than actual adherents. For example, the Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, which has large numbers of immigrants from Eastern Orthodox countries, have collectively reported a total of 2–3 million across the country.

However, a 2010 study by Alexei Krindatch sought data from each parish, with the specific criteria of annual participation, discovering that there were only about 817,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians actively practicing their faith (i.e., attending church services on a regular basis) in the United States. The study explained that such a difference was due to a variety of circumstances, for example the higher numbers having counted all people who self-identify as Eastern Orthodox on a census regardless of active participation, or all people belonging to ethnic groups originating in Eastern Orthodox countries. This study, while initially controversial, proved groundbreaking, and has since been officially approved for use by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America.

+ Country Total population % Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox total (details) 2,621,977 7.2% 173,645 (details) 3,018,854 0.2% 7,587 (details) 23,824,600 2.6% 563,100 (details) 8,773,000 6% 500,000 (details) 9,624,900 2.5% 240,000 (details) 9,349,645 60.1% 5,619,106 (details) 3,531,159 30.7% 1,089,658 (details) 210,147,125 0.06% 135,000 (details) 6,519,789 62.7% 4,091,780 (details) 36,991,981 1.7% 623,005 (details) 1,386,000,000 0.001% 15,000 (details) 3,871,833 3.3% 129,820 (details) 923,281 74.5% 688,075 (details) 10,538,275 0.2% 20,533 (details) 105,000,000 0.3% 350,000 (details) 1,114,030 16.3% 181,770 (details) 67,150,000 1% 500,000–700,000 (details) 912,241 0.02% 200+ (details) 5,477,359 1.1% 70,000 (details) 3,929,581 82% 3,223,206 (details) 79,652,360 1.3% 1,050,740 (details) 10,423,054 90% 9,380,749 (details) 107,317 0.1% 100 (details) 17,263,239 3% 200,000–550,000 (details) 9,010,050 0.6% 100,000 (details) 60,795,612 3% 1,800,000https://cesnur.com/dimensioni-del-pluralismo-religioso-in-italia/ (details) 126,226,568 0.02% 20,000 (details) 9,531,712 2–4.5% 150,000–350,000 (details) 19,186,015 17.1% 3,269,143 (details) 51,413,925 0.01% 6,000 (details) 1,585,566 5% 95,000 (details) 6,636,800 2.8% 185,000 (details) 1,842,226 14% 258,000 (details) 4,525,247 9% 330,000 (details) 2,966,954 4.2% 125,189Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. . 2013-03-15. (details) 26,262,313 0.06% 15,000 (details) 121,736,809 0.01% 15,000 (details) 2,409,207 94.3% 2,271,205 (details) 623,633 71.1% 443,394 (details) 4,599,327 0.3%13,883Table 28, 2013 Census Data - QuickStats About Culture and Identity - Tables. (details) 1,836,713 46.1% 847,390 (details) 5,328,212 0.4% 21,993 (details) 4,550,368 2.5% 100,000109,035,3430.002%2,500 (details) 38,386,000 1.4% 504,400Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Mały Rocznik Statystyczny Polski 2016, Warszawa 2017, tab. 18(80), s. 115 (details) 19,053,815 73.4% 14,044,790 (details)There is no official census of religion in Russia, and estimates are based on surveys only. In August 2012, ARENA determined that about 46.8% of Russians are Christians (including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and non-denominational), which is slightly less than an absolute 50%+ majority. However, later that year the Levada Center determined that 76% of Russians are Christians, and in June 2013 the Public Opinion Foundation website, How many Russians believe in God, go to church and pray their prayers? determined that 65% of Russians are Christians. These findings are in line with Pew's 2010 survey, which determined that 73.6% of Russians are Christians, with VTSIOM's 2010 survey (~77% Christian), and with Ipsos MORI 's 2011 survey (69%). 145,500,000 61.8%–72%VTSIOMPublic Opinion Foundation website, How many Russians believe in God, go to church and pray their prayers? 101,450,000–104,000,000 (details) 6,647,003 81.1% 5,387,426 (details) 5,397,036 0.9% 49,133 (details) 2,055,496 2.2% 45,000 (details) 46,464,053 3.1% 1,500,000 (details)9,775,572 1.5% 145,279 (details) 8,211,700 1.7% 140,000 (details) 22,457,336 3.1% 700,000 (details)8,208,000 0.5% 45,000 (details) 505,153 91% 460,000 (details) 84,277,439 0.02% 16,000 (details) 7,057,841 6.4% 450,000 (details) 40,000,000 65.4–76.6% 27,802,000–34,850,000 (details) 341,784,857 1% 2,600,000 (details) 67,886,0110.7% 475,000 (details) 39,047,321 2.1% 822,000TOTAL 3,331,625,296 4% ~220,000,000 Unreliable census data.

Eastern Orthodox Church by jurisdiction

Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches The Eastern Orthodox Church is organized as a union of several autocephalous subdivisions, which are also called "Churches" (or, sometimes, "jurisdictions"). Some are associated with a specific country, while others are not. This table presents some known data regarding individual jurisdictions. "NA" means that data is not available.

+ Eastern Orthodox Church by jurisdiction Jurisdiction Bishops Priests Monastics Monasteries Parishes Constantinople 125 NA 1,800Including Mount Athos 142 648 Alexandria 41 NA NA NA NA Antioch 36 NA NA NA NA Jerusalem 20 NA NA NA NA Russia 217 30,675 NA 807 30,142 Serbia 47 2,863 1,461 204 3,100 Romania 53 15,068 7,605 359 15,717 Bulgaria 15 1,500 NA 120 2,600 Georgia 37 730 NA NA 600 Cyprus 16 NA NA 67 NA Greece 101 10,000 3,541 646 9,146 Poland 12 NA NA NA 400 Albania 6 135 NA 150 909 Czech Lands & Slovakia 6 NA NA NA 172 Orthodox Church in America 50 2700 NA 100 1200 Ukraine 62 4,500 NA 71 7,000 In the CPC, the number of parishes and commented on the seizure of temples, Ukrayinska Pravda (21 December 2018) North Macedonia NA NA NA NA NA Total 743 54,382 12,946 2,256 61,939

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