Catholics compose an estimated 76% of Peru's population,[1] according to the 2017 census.[2] In 2020, there were over 3,000 priests and over 9,000 nuns serving across 1,670 parishes;[3] the church also ran 136 hospitals and homes for the old and infirm.
Catholicism has been decreasing for many decades. According to the different census, in 1940, 98.5% of the Peruvian population adhered to Catholicism, decreasing to 94.6% in 1981 and to 81.3% in 2007.