JW Statistics

Giordano

Service Year	Peak Pubs	Increase	% over last year	Baptized	% over last yr	Memorial	Partakers	Congs	Lands	Leavers
1960-61	965,169	48,837	5.330	63,070	-8.63	1,553,909	13,284	21,557	185	14,233
1961-62	989,192	24,023	2.489	69,649	10.43	1,639,681	12,714	22,166	189	45,626
1962-63	1,040,836	51,644	5.221	62,798	-9.84	1,693,752	12,292	22,761	198	11,154
1963-64	1,075,523	34,687	3.333	68,236	8.66	1,809,476	11,953	23,483		33,549
1964-65	1,109,806	34,283	3.188	64,393	-5.63	1,933,089	11,550	24,158	201	30,110
1965-66	1,118,665	8,859	0.798	58,904	-8.52	1,971,107	11,179	24,910		50,045
1966-67	1,160,604	41,939	3.749	74,981	27.29	2,195,612	10,981	25,206		33,042
1967-68	1,221,504	60,900	5.247	82,842	10.48	2,493,519	10,619	25,409		21,942
1968-69	1,336,112	114,608	9.383	120,905	45.95	2,719,860	10,368	25,694		6,297
1969-70	1,483,430	147,318	11.026	164,193	35.80	3,226,168	10,526	26,524	208	16,875
1970-71	1,590,793	107,363	7.237	149,808	-8.76	3,453,542	10,384	27,154		42,445
1971-72	1,658,990	68,197	4.287	163,123	8.89	3,662,407	10,350	28,407		94,926
1972-73	1,758,429	99,439	5.994	193,990	18.92	3,994,924	10,523	31,850		94,551
1973-74	2,021,432	263,003	14.957	297,872	53.55	4,550,457	10,723	34,576		34,869
1974-75	2,179,256	157,824	7.808	295,073	-0.94	4,925,643	10,550	38,256	212	137,249
1975-76	2,248,390	69,134	3.172	196,656	-33.35	4,972,571	10,187	40,155		127,522
1976-77	2,223,538	-24,852	-1.105	124,459	-36.71	5,107,518	10,080	41,635		149,311
1977-78	2,182,341	-41,197	-1.853	95,052	-23.63	5,095,831	9,762	42,255		136,249
1978-79	2,186,075	3,734	0.171	113,672	19.59	5,323,766	9,727	42,600		109,938
1979-80	2,272,278	86,203	3.943	113,779	0.09	5,726,656	9,564	43,181	217	27,576
1980-81	2,361,896	89,618	3.944	119,836	5.32	5,987,893	9,601	43,870		30,218
1981-82	2,477,608	115,712	4.899	138,540	15.61	6,252,787	9,529	44,953		22,828
1982-83	2,652,323	174,715	7.052	161,896	16.86	6,767,707	9,292	46,235		-12,819
1983-84	2,842,531	190,208	7.171	179,421	10.82	7,416,974	9,081	47,869		-10,787
1984-85	3,024,131	181,600	6.389	189,800	5.78	7,792,109	9,051	49,716	222	8,200
1985-86	3,229,022	204,891	6.775	225,868	19.00	8,160,597	8,927	52,177		20,977
1986-87	3,395,612	166,590	5.159	230,843	2.20	8,965,221	8,808	54,911		64,253
1987-88	3,592,654	197,042	5.803	239,268	3.65	9,201,071	8,685	57,670		42,226
1988-89	3,787,188	194,534	5.415	263,855	10.28	9,479,064	8,734	60,192		69,321
1989-90	4,017,213	230,025	6.074	301,518	14.27	9,950,058	8,869	63,016		71,493
1990-91	4,278,820	261,607	6.512	300,945	-0.19	10,650,158	8,850	66,207	211	39,338
1991-92	4,472,787	193,967	4.533	301,002	0.02	11,431,171	8,683	69,558	229	107,035
1992-93	4,709,889	237,102	5.301	296,004	-1.66	11,865,765	8,693	73,070	231	58,902
1993-94	4,914,094	204,205	4.336	314,818	6.36	12,288,917	8,617	75,573	232	110,613
1994-95	5,199,895	285,801	5.816	338,491	7.52	13,147,201	8,645	78,620	232	52,690
1995-96	5,413,769	213,874	4.113	366,579	8.30	12,921,933	8,757	81,908	233	152,705
1996-97	5,599,931	186,162	3.439	375,923	2.55	14,322,226	8,795	85,256	233	189,761
1997-98	5,888,650	288,719	5.156	316,092	-15.92	13,896,312	8,756	87,644	233	27,373
1998-99	5,912,492	23,842	0.405	323,439	2.32	14,088,751	8,755	89,985	234	299,597
1999-00	6,035,564	123,072	2.082	288,907	-10.68	14,872,086	8,661	91,487	235	165,835
2000-01	6,117,666	82,102	1.360	263,431	-8.82	15,374,986	8,730	93,154	235	181,329
2001-02	6,304,645	186,979	3.056	265,469	0.77	15,597,746	8,760	94,600	234	78,490
2002-03	6,429,351	124,706	1.978	258,845	-2.50	16,097,622	8,565	95,919	235	134,139
2003-04	6,513,132	83,781	1.303	262,416	1.38	16,760,607	8,570	96,894	235	178,635
2004-05	6,613,829	100,697	1.546	247,631	-5.63	16,383,333	8,524	98,269	235	146,934
2005-06	6,741,444	127,615	1.930	248,327	0.28	16,675,113	8,758	99,770	236	120,712
2006-07	6,957,854	216,410	3.210	298,304	20.13	17,672,443	9,105	101,376	236	81,894
2007-08	7,124,443	166,589	2.394	289,678	-2.89	17,790,631	9,986	103,267	236	123,089
2008-09	7,313,173	188,730	2.649	276,233	-4.64	18,168,323	10,857	105,298	236	87,503
2009-10	7,508,050	194,877	2.665	294,368	6.57	18,706,895	11,202	107,000	236	99,491
2010-11	7,659,019	150,969	2.011	263,131	-10.61	19,374,737	11,824	109,403	236	112,162
2011-12	7,782,346	123,327	1.610	268,777	2.15	19,013,343	12,604	111,719	239	145,45

First off add a zero on that very last number it was 145,450. When I found this material back when I first joined this forum I did not copy and paste the site. A Recent search has not turned up the page. If anyone can find the site where this came from I would appreciate it.It seems accurate.

If my math is correct from the of 1960 to the end of 2011 there had been combined total of 4,110,646 'leavers'.

If anyone understands that term I'd appreciate a heads up. Does it include those who passed away, those that were DF/DA or simply people who stopped attending?

On a personal note my wife and I left in 1965. A bunch of people in our age bracket (mid-twenties) left as well. I was surprised to see it actually was a banner year for leavers. The only reason I could remember was the cultural awakening that really took hold by the mid 1960's, the music, the newly found freedoms for better or worse. It was an intoxicating time to be young and healthy.

I remember to this day pioneering where the need was great, book page in hand, suit jacket open because it was a hot day watching a motorcycle club drive down main street, hair flying in the breeze, hot biker chicks and hearing the Stones doing I Can't Get no Satisfaction thinking how the hell did I get to this point in my life. Thankfully my wife was ready to get out as well.

Ignoranceisbliss

Interesting stats. Thanks for sharing. The years between 1980 an 1998 saw huge growth. Since then there has been a huge drop off. That's right when the Internet really started picking up steam.

Simon

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php ?

Giordano

I love Paul's work on jwfacts.com and his stats are great. I like my single page for quick comparisons.

Splash

Those figures were originally posted here

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/250532/1/25-YEARS-of-compiled-yearbook-statistics

Splash

TheOldHippie

You cannot calculate like that. Peak publishers say nothing, because then you add the month of January in a declining country to the month of August in an increasing country. You must use the average number. But then, the fact ruining the whole spreadsheet is that you do not have to be baptised to be a publisher. Some unbaptised publishers report some months, then not for some months, then again, and the same do baptised publishers. There is a whole lot of people floating around in the system, and they ruin it. Disfellowshipped persons return etc. Furthermore, 1 per cent of the population die during a year, so that has be included in the system as well.

The spreadsheet is far too simple and can be used to nothing at all.

Phizzy

I appreciate what you say O.H, and if I remember right you are something of an expert in the field of data and statistics etc ?

In the absence of really accurate figures, which I would venture to say are all but impossible to obtain, not least because people lie when questioned, both the WT itself and its members,then I would say a very repectable effort has been made by JWfacts, trying to take in to account all the possibles.

Paul must have put a lot of work in to compiling his figures, and was careful to use Average pubs and factor in the percentage of deaths etc etc.

I think from his efforts we can extrapolate the trend, i.e the increase of the past has slowed, and we are now entering a period of slow decline.

Pistoff

What has always struck me about the graphs is the variation in year to year numbers, ie, baptized, etc, but the average publishers is a very smooth gradual increase.

That number has always looked to me like it has been massaged to prevent a shock to the rank and file.

If df'ing, those leaving and those being baptized all have peaks and valleys, why is there only a smooth predictable increase in average publishers from year to year?

bigmac

where are the leavers figures obtained from---and what are minus leavers ?

JW Statistics

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