Peak Pubs is a fictitious number. Every pub that didn't turn in a field report 1/2 the time is given the opportunity to "catch them up" at the end of the service year, so Peak Pubs is always that Sept total that has Joe Deadbeat reporting 2 hours every month for the 6 months he had turned in zero. Average Pubs would have been a better picture, but still this indicates JW's have a 3.5% growth rate but a 2.3% attrition rate (incl deaths and defections), with a resulting in a true increase of only 1.2% annually which is the same as the annual global population growth. IOW, the only real increase they have is that of young JW's having babies.
I'm still a bit shocked that there is ANY kind of increase when it seems JW's are leaving in droves.
I wonder too, how many are "fake" publishers or just "putting in their time" to stay "in" for family and friends?