Salt Lake City is processing a historic first in the church record books, as new figures from the April general conference show worldwide growth even while U.S. membership slipped in 2025. The contrast between strong gains in Africa and Latin America and a nearly flat United States tally arrived in the same weekend that leaders were talking intently about marriage and family.
According to Church Newsroom, the faith’s 2025 statistical report lists global membership at 17,887,212, with 385,490 convert baptisms during the year and increases in stakes, missions, and temples. Taken together, those institutional boosts show a religion that is still expanding across the globe even as local trends pull in different directions.
The Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly “Mormon Land” roundup zeroed in on the eyebrow-raising part for Utah insiders: country-by-country numbers show the United States posting a net loss of 186 members in 2025, bringing the U.S. total to 6,929,770, a first in modern reporting. The Salt Lake Tribune detailed the independent analysis behind that figure.
Why the U.S. Numbers Slipped
Independent researcher Matt Martinich’s country-level breakdown points to a mix of demographic and administrative forces, including falling birthrates among active Latter-day Saints, the removal of unbaptized children of record after they turn 8, and routine name deletions tied to death or resignation. Matt Martinich’s blog notes that shifts in record keeping and transfers can occasionally produce surprising outcomes on paper, even in years when missionary baptisms rise.
An Apostle’s Caution on Divorce
During the same General Conference, Elder Neil L. Andersen focused on eternal marriage and acknowledged that “there are situations where divorce should be considered,” while emphasizing that “the cautions are significant,” according to official coverage of the sessions. Church News notes that Andersen’s footnotes direct listeners to earlier apostolic teachings from Dallin H. Oaks and James E. Faust about rare circumstances that may justify divorce.
What It Means in Salt Lake
For local leaders such as bishops, stake presidents, and Relief Society officers, the new statistics intensify familiar questions about how well congregations are retaining members, supporting families and keeping records current. Both the statistical report and the conference messages were delivered from Temple Square and the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City, the nerve center for the church’s administration and temple work. Temple Square Conference Center
Retention and the Long View
Analysts caution that headline membership totals can obscure more complicated realities on the ground. Rapid growth in portions of Africa and the South Pacific can unfold at the same time as stagnation or small losses in longtime strongholds. As Religion News Service explains, indicators like the number of congregations, stakes and estimated activity rates often provide a fuller picture of institutional health than raw membership counts alone.
For Salt Lake, the 2025 report is both a reminder of how far the church’s reach now extends and a nudge to confront what is happening closer to home. Leaders and members here will be watching carefully to see whether the U.S. dip proves to be a one-year anomaly or the early sign of a more lasting shift.
