The Methodist Church is Britain's fourth largest Christian denomination and part of the worldwide Methodist family of over 60 million committed members and a further 20 million adherents. Regular collection of Methodist statistics began in 1766, when membership numbers were reported for the first time. The present system of annual data collection and statistical reporting is known as Statistics for Mission and dates back to 2002.
Statistics can never tell the whole story of the Church's mission and ministry, and its limitations have always been recognised. Nevertheless, as the 2011 Conference report put it, statistics enable us to 'find out something about what we are, who we are, where we are, how we have changed and are changing, and, to a certain extent, what we are doing'. For a brief overview of the latest membership statistics, submitted by local churches between October 2020 and February 2021, take a look Methodism in numbers (2021 edition).
More detailed reports with District, circuit and church figures are available on the 2025 Statistics Reports page.
Statistics Update - May 2026
We are pleased to announce that the update for Statistics for Mission has been completed and office holders can now be updated again using the Online Suite.
Click here to check and update records. Church, circuit and district office holders and profiles may be updated at any point throughout the year.
Data Protection Checklist - Managing Trustees are now able to check contact details and this should be done as soon as possible in order to comply with Check 4 of the Data Protection Checklist.
If some closed churches are still reappearing under Statistics for Mission, please fill this is form to notify us about the issue. This is a known issue that we are working on resolving.
By adding/amending a record, you agree to abide by the Methodist Church's observance of the current UK Data Protection legislation (see Privacy Policy). Please ensure that the officeholder has granted you permission to record contact data that is connected to their role in the Church.
If you have any questions, contact Online Suite Support.