A file photo shows people praying inside Santa Ana Ixtlahuatzingo Catholic Church in Tenancingo, Mexico. Religious switching has affected Christianity's two largest subgroups, Catholicism and Protestantism, in 24 countries across Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America and sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new Pew analysis. Credit: OSV News photo/David Maung, file

(OSV News) — A new analysis from Pew Research Center has found that Catholicism has lost more members than it has gained in most of the 24 countries surveyed, while Protestantism has seen net gains in several nations, especially Latin America.

The shifts are due to religious switching, or leaving one’s childhood religious identity for another in adulthood.

Pew published its findings April 23, based on data from its surveys of 24 countries spanning Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America and sub-Saharan Africa.

The center’s 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Study provided the data for the U.S., while international data was drawn from surveys conducted during the spring of 2024.