Mormon leadership can always spout "spectacular" growth due to convert baptisms and their own birth rate (while ignoring the those who leave), however as a percentage of the world's population they must look pretty dismal.

Does anyone know if there are any graphs online which show the total number of Mormons to the world population since its beginning? Or a historical graph which shows the rate of the church's growth compared to the world's rate of growth?

Unfortunately (for LDS Inc), the LDS growth rate has been dropping like a rock too.

The growth rate for number of congregations, one of the few reliable statistics LDS Inc releases, has been under 1% a year in recent years. This is below the world population growth rate. That means LDS Inc is actually shrinking as a percentage of the total world population.

Couldn't happen to a nicer cult.

World population growth:
https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_grow&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=world%20population%20growth

LDS congregational growth:
http://stopsoon.blogspot.com

Read 'em and weep, COB.

In terms of church growth? At BYU education week about 15 years ago, my dad attended a class and the lecturer stated, "the church is on the 1-foot-line of a football field and going backwards."

I also think in the last 20 years with Starbucks and increased coffee consumption, this has hurt LDS growth

Would like some thoughts on this

I dunno, but as for me, returning to church without being able to continue to drink coffee is a deal-breaker. It's just not an option. Coffee is more true than Mormonism. Coffee is more necessary for me to "return to Heavenly Father" than Mormonism. God is Love. Coffee is Love. Coffee, ergo, is Redemption. In short, I will return when coffee is integrated into the temple endowment.

Officiator: All arise. The congregation will now make a solemn covenant to obey The Law of the Java. The sisters will now veil their faces. The congregation will covenant to obey The Law of the Java by bringing their right arms to the square. You and each of you covenant to obey the Law of the Java, in that you do sanctify the roasted coffee bean, in that you do grind it, brew it, and drink of its manufacture each morning--at least twice--before 10 o'clock a.m.? Each of you bow your head and say, "Yes!"

Congregation: "Yes!"

Officiator: That will do. The sisters may now unveil their faces. The congregation will take their seats.

Naw. I'm kidding. Even that wouldn't do for me. Know what might do, though? Having a Starbucks counter in the temple cafeteria.

When I first left the church, I made a ritual of having a cup of coffee every day whether I liked it or even wanted it. In the beginning my feelings were so conflicted that I'd have that cup of coffee and say to myself (with a smile), well I guess I'm not going back to Mormonism today! ;-)

I wish to bear my testimony that I KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt that coffee is TRUE-ly delicious.

But Mormons as a percentage of the world population is less today than 10 years ago.

The question you all should be asking is.... comparative to the world population or just that in the United States, what is the per capita income and or financial control of mormon members vs non members and at what rate is it increasing compared to the rest of the group. I would wager that this finding would blow your mind.

In the US, ARIS has done lots of surveys.

It shows that the % of Mormons hasn't increased in the US since they started counting in 1990. It was 1.4%, and is still about 1.4% of the US in 2008.

1990-2008 were years when the church reported huge growth.


http://commons.trincoll.edu/aris/2011/12/14/mormon-study-shows-regional-concentration-and-growing-republicanism/

Considering their above average birth rate, this would mean that they've had no growth from convert baptisms in 20+ years...or more people are leaving than are joining. I think this percentage will fall over the next 20 years.