Since the 2016 yearbook yearbook was released I've been tearing through the numbers, trying to figure a few things out. I have several different projects I'm working on, and this is one of them. I looked through all the yearbooks from the 1989 one through 2016, the only thing they really state about money is how much they spent on; special pioneers, missionaries, and traveling overseers. From 2002 and on, at least what i could find, they also say the number of branch workers worldwide.
A few things really stand out to me. The amount of money they're spending seems to be spiraling out of control. In 1989 they spent 29.8 million (remember this figure is just what they spend on special pioneers, missionaries and traveling overseers) adjusted for inflation its about 60 million. The number increases every year, as you would expect it to. If we jump to 2002 its at 70.9 million (96.6 million adjusted for inflation) a 41 million dollar increase. Jump ahead another 13 years, to 2015 its at 224 million or a 153 million dollar increase.
To put things in perspective, In the 1989 yearbook you had an average of 3,430,926 publishers worldwide. The 2016 yearbook had 7,987,279 avg publishers, an increase of 132%. During the same time span their spending increased, adjusted for inflation, 293%.
Looking at this you can really see why they have to downsize the number of special pioneers, the costs are getting out of control. Anyway i found some of this interesting, my next project is looking at total number of baptisms in the united states from 1970 through today, trying to figure out where did all those people go?