Religious pluralism
According to figures from the Ministry of Justice dated 1 January 2019, the total number of registered religious organisations in Russia is 30,896, representing more than 60 different denominations. The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest denomination with 18,550 religious organisations.
Muslims comprise 5,954 registered religious organisations; Pentecostal Evangelicals make up 1,034 registered organisations, Baptists 889, Evangelical Christians 878, Seventh Day Adventists 567 and Lutherans 222 organisations. In total there are more than 4,000 registered Protestant religious organisations.
Roman Catholics have 237 religious organisations in Russia, Buddhists 269, Jews 268, Mormons 53, the movement for Krishna Consciousness 86, Scientologists 1. Jehovah’s Witnesses have 398 in 2017.
2014 | 2017 | 2019 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 26 744 | 29 108 | 30 896 | |
Russian Orthodox Church | 15 455 | 17 687 | 18 550 | |
Muslims | 4861 | 5513 | 5954 | |
Protestant organisations | Pentecostal Evangelicals | 1228 | 1151 | 1034 |
Baptists | 833 | 880 | 889 | |
Evangelical Christians | 699 | 727 | 878 | |
Christians of the evangelical faith | - | 618 | 878 | |
Seventh Day Adventists | 580 | 572 | 567 | |
Lutherans | 219 | 227 | 222 | |
Jews | 259 | 273 | 268 | |
Buddhists | 242 | 259 | 269 | |
Roman Catholics | 226 | 234 | 237 | |
Movement for Krishna Consciousness | 77 | 83 | 86 | |
Mormons | 58 | 53 | 54 | |
Jehovah’s Witnesses | 39 | 398 | - | |
Scientologists | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Source: unpublished official report of the Ministry of Justice and personal documentation of the author. Complete data for all religions is available on the website of the Federal statistics service (in Russian).