LDS Church exceeds 16.3 million members, but number reflects the smallest net increase in 40 years

Among the 2018 statistical report announced Saturday by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is a surprising finding: the largest number of staff records ever eliminated in a single year – 140,868.

This is not a line item, but the church's independent demographer, Matt Martinich, has a way of calculating the number.

To get the number of records deleted, Martinich adds the number of converts baptisms to the increase in the number of "registered children" born of Latter-day Saints. This brings the total to 336,434. Then, it subtracts the number of members declared in 2017 from those declared in 2018, which gives a net increase of only 195,566 people.

"This is the smallest net increase in the number of church members since 1978," Martinich said on his blog, ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com. "When the church recorded a net increase of 194,000 members."

Moves could be caused by a number of factors, said Martinich.

This could be due to the larger number of children born during those years who have reached the age of baptism at age 8, but who have not been baptized. This could reflect more deaths due to aging of the church, he said. This could also indicate that more individuals have asked to be removed from their church records, which may have increased in 2018 "compared to previous years".

Here are the statistics that the church reported Saturday. They reflect the growth and status of world faith as of December 31, 2018:

membership • 16,313,735.

Convert to 2018 • 234,332.

New record children • 102.102.

congregations • 30,536.

Full time missionaries • 65 137.

Service Missionaries • 37,963.

Operation of temples • 161.