The population ofAngola is more than 92%Christian as of 2023.[1][2]
TheProtestant faith was introduced toAngola in 1878 byBaptist missionaries. This was almost 400 years after a Catholic mission had been established there.[3]
Missionary groups in the 1880s included the EnglishBaptist Missionary Society, theAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, theUnited Church of Canada, theMethodist Episcopal Church and theBrethren's Mission.[4]
Many of the nationalist independence leaders were raised as Protestants, includingAgostinho Neto (Methodist),Holden Roberto (Baptist) andJonas Savimbi (Congregational).
The last census in 2014 noted that 24.4% of the population were Protestant or Pentecostal.[5] Estimates in 2022 suggested that 38% of the population are now Protestant.[6]
In 2021, the largest Protestant groups includedBaptists in Luanda and the northwest of the country,Lutherans in the south,Methodists,Adventists,New Apostolic Christians andJehovah's Witnesses, as well as new communities such as the Igréja Unida do Reino de Deus (United Church of the Kingdom of God).[7]
The government ofAngola recognizes 11 Protestant denominations: