CWN - The Christian population in nine Middle Eastern states is 14,526,000, down from 14,740,000 in 2010, according to a report published by the Vatican newspaper.

The total population of Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey is 258 million.

The report draws on a recent study by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association on Christians in the Middle East. The study documented sharp recent and historical declines in Christian population:

• in Syria, from 2.2 million (2010) to 1.2 million
• in Egypt, from 19% of the population (1910) to 10%
• in Lebanon, from 53% (1932) to less than 40%
• in Jerusalem, from 20% (1946) to less than 2%
• in Palestine, from 20% (1948) to 1.2%

References:

• Le radici hanno tenuto (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 6)