Mission in Portugal and Europe, in numbers
Sourced data, gathered in one place, for anyone who prays, sends, researches or preaches about missions.
The essentials in six numbers
Three about Portugal, three about Europe.
Portugal
About 187,000 people out of 10.3 million. Of every 100 Portuguese, 98 are not evangelical.
Source: INE, Census 2021 · 2021
From 615,000 (2011) to 1.24 million (2021). The fastest-growing group in the country.
Source: INE, Census 2011/2021 · 2021
Among those who call themselves Christian and hardly ever go to church. 57% believe in "some higher power".
Source: Pew Research Center, "Being Christian in Western Europe" (2018), p. 108 · 2017
Europe
They were 19% in 2010 and rose to 25% in 2020: 190 million people.
Source: Pew Research Center, 2025 · 2020
From 75% to 67% of the European population between 2010 and 2020. The main reason: people who stopped identifying as Christian.
Source: Pew Research Center, 2025 · 2020
In 17 European countries, evangelicals are less than 1% of the population.
estimate Source: Operation World (7th ed., 2010; prayer calendar, 5 de February) · 2010
Data on the evangelical church in Portugal is scattered: some in the Census by INE, some in reports from the Portuguese Evangelical Alliance, some in news coverage. At the same time, sermons and websites circulate several numbers with no source at all. The Didasko Project's Observatory gathers what could be confirmed, and places Portugal alongside the rest of Europe.
Three rules guide everything here. Every number carries its source and year. When it is an estimate, it is marked as an estimate. And a number we could not confirm does not go in. The data can be used and cited freely, in classes, sermons, missionary letters and academic papers.
Explore the data
Evangelicals in Portugal
The 2011 and 2021 Census, a map by district, the regions most in need according to the AEP, eight challenges of the field and the signs of growth.
See the Portugal numbers EuropeEurope, a mission field
Non-religious, practice and evangelicals, country by country. How the continent that sent missionaries to the world came to need them, and where Portugal fits in.
See the Europe numbers MethodSources and methodology
Every source used, what it measures and its limits. Why the Census and international estimates give different numbers.
See the sources For churchesPortugal on one page
The main numbers and charts in an A4 PDF to print and five slides for missions Sunday. Free to copy and share.
Download the kit PrayerPrayer calendar
Twenty weeks, twenty regions of Portugal, each with its own data point and a specific prayer request.
Pray for Portugal AnalysisPortugal up close
Articles that explain what the numbers mean for mission, starting with the church's concentration on the coast and the growth of the non-religious.
Read the articlesHow to cite
Always cite the original source of each number (indicated below it). To cite the Observatory as a compilation, use:
CUNHA, Paulo Henrique P. Observatory of mission in Portugal and Europe. Didasko Project Portugal, 2026. Available at: https://projetodidaskoportugal.com/observatorio_en. Accessed: [date].
The numbers have names
Behind every percentage are Portuguese families who have not yet understood the gospel. We serve in Cascais to change that, and you can take part.
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