As 2025 gets started, I wanted to review some stats provided by Nations Outreach on what is happening in the mission field.

(Here's the original article 👇)

2024 Christian Missionary Statistics | Nations Outreach
See the latest 2024 Christian missionary statistics and trends.
Nations OutreachJeremy Koering

1. There are 430,000 Missionaries worldwide

There are an estimated 430,000 Christian missionaries (2021) on the field full-time. "In the study, a missionary was defined as someone serving over two years as a self-described Christian missionary. This includes Catholics, Protestants, and other denominations. This number is down sharply from 1,135,000 missionaries in 2001."

2. 71% Leave For Preventable Reasons

"An estimated 12,000 missionaries leave the field each year—71% leave for preventable reasons."

3. Nearly 50% serve 5 Years or less

"A staggering 47% of missionaries leave the field within the first five years. At Nations Outreach, many missionaries tell us they struggle to stay connected to their home church and supporter base," the original article shares.

4. Which Countries Need Missionaries?

This is a list of the top 10 unreached populations, according to the Joshua Project in 2024:

  1. India – 1,352,947,000
  2. Pakistan – 236,972,000
  3. Indonesia – 193,937,000
  4. Bangladesh – 172,173,000
  5. China – 140,553,000
  6. Japan – 120,652,000
  7. Iran – 88,612,000
  8. Turkey – 85,014,000
  9. Nigeria – 68,296,000
  10. Thailand – 61,585,000

5. The 10/40 Window is Still Important

Image of the 10/40 Window from Advancing Native Missions.

The 10/40 Window is between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator in the eastern hemisphere. From West Africa across Asia, this includes over 5.33 billion people.

  1. "96.6% of unreached people are in the 10/40 Window. That is over 3.2 billion people."
  2. "One of the primary reasons why is 60% of the countries in the 10/40 Window are closed to North American missionaries."

Why this matters?

With the world's population growth outpacing evangelism and high turnover in missionaries, we have to learn how to do more with less.

Thankfully, this is where God seems to specialize. 💪

You can read more about what we at One Village Group are doing to help missionaries stay visible and in the field in 2025 below 👇

OVG 2025 - It’s Going to be Amazing!
We’re already working with several missionaries and it’s only January.
One Village LifeMatt Scott