Trend away from Catholicism less pronounced in Mexico % of adults in each country who say they were raised Catholic compared with % who currently identify as Catholic
Across Latin America, the portion of people who identify as Catholic has declined considerably in recent decades, from at least 90% in the 1960s to 69% in 2014. This decline is largely due to widespread conversion to Protestant (and especially evangelical) denominations, as well as some people leaving organized religion altogether. But the trend away from Catholicism has been less pronounced in Mexico, where 81% of adults identify as Catholic today, compared with 90% who say they were raised Catholic, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center report.
The decline in the percentage of Mexicans who identify as Catholic pales in comparison with some of Mexico’s neighbors in Central America, where in some cases the share of adult Catholics has fallen by more than twice the rate found in Mexico. Half of adults or fewer in Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras now identify as Catholic, while roughly four-in-ten in each country say they are Protestant. In Mexico, about one-in-ten adults were raised Catholic but no longer identify with Catholicism. By contrast, in Nicaragua, roughly a quarter of adults have left Catholicism after having been raised in the faith.
Trend away from Catholicism less pronounced  | in Mexico  | % of adults in each country who say they were raised Catholic  | compared with % who currently identify as Catholic  | Raised  | Currently  | Catholic  | Catholic  | Net change  | Nicaragua  | 75%  | 50%  | -25  | Uruguay  | 64  | 42  | 22  | 81  | Brazil  | 61  | 20  | Mexico  | 90  | 81  | 9  | 89  | Para guay  | 94  | 5  | Panama  | 74  | 70  | CHANGE SNOT  | Source: Survey conducted October 2013 to February  | STATISTICALLY  | 2014 in 18 Latin Ame rican countries and Puerto Rico  | SIGNIFICANT  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 