When the doctrine regarding 1935 being the close of the calling was done away with in 2007, it was not unexpected to see the number rise. Over the next few years it went from around 8,500 to 10,500. This seemed to indicate that there were a couple of thousand people that may have felt they had the calling all along, but too shy to profess it.
For the 30 year period between the mid 1978 and 2007, parktakers had barely dropped. There were always a few people that would start taking and then stop going to meetings, and so the flatlining seemed mostly due to "unworthy" ones claiming to be anointed.
However, the number continues to rise, and now is over 20,000, which is not something I expected. Who are these new partakers? Is it mostly new converts, or older ones that are starting to change their belief? Does anyone have experiences of who are now beginning to claim to be anointed?
I have just updated https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/memorial-partakers.php with the latest numbers.