Quick answer
About 63% of Argentines identify as Catholic. The second-largest group is now people with no religion at all, somewhere between 19% and 26% depending on the survey, ahead of Evangelical Christians at 9% to 15%. Argentina keeps no official religion statistics, so these figures come from national surveys.
Roman Catholicism is the main religion in Argentina: depending on the survey, roughly 58-63% of Argentines identify as Catholic. The second-largest group is now people with no religion (19-26% depending on the survey), followed by Evangelical Christians (9-15%), with smaller Jewish, Muslim and indigenous communities. Argentina has no official state religion, freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Constitution, but Catholicism still shapes everything from public holidays to everyday Spanish.
Those two facts surprise most visitors: Argentina gave the world Pope Francis, yet it is secularizing faster than almost any of its neighbors. Below you’ll find the actual numbers, what each community looks like on the ground in Buenos Aires and beyond, and the folk beliefs (Gauchito Gil, the Difunta Correa, Pachamama), that don’t show up in census categories but are everywhere once you know to look.
In this article
What Is the Main Religion in Argentina?
Catholicism, by a wide margin, but a shrinking one. The 2019 CONICET-UNSAM national survey of religious beliefs (Argentina’s most rigorous study on the subject) found 62.9% of Argentines identify as Catholic. Latinobarómetro’s 2024 regional survey landed on almost the same figure: 63%, while Pew Research Center’s 2024 survey (published January 2026) put it lower still, at 58%, down from 71% a decade earlier. As recently as 2008, that number was 76.5%, and in 1960 (the last national census to include a religion question), it was 90.5%.
The decline hasn’t gone to other churches so much as to no church at all. Between one in five and one in four Argentines (18.9% in the CONICET survey, 26.2% in Latinobarómetro 2024, 24% in Pew’s 2024 survey), declares no religious affiliation. That makes the “nones” the second-largest belief group in the country, ahead of Evangelicals. The shift is strongest among under-30s and in the city of Buenos Aires, where secular identity is common and religious practice is often cultural rather than devotional: many porteños who never attend Mass will still cross themselves passing a church, get their children baptized, and queue for hours at the San Cayetano church in Liniers every August 7 to ask the patron saint of bread and work for employment.
Argentina Population by Religion: The Numbers
Argentina’s census does not ask about religion, so demographers rely on national surveys. The religions practiced in Argentina range from Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity to Judaism, Islam, and indigenous and folk traditions. Here is how the two most-cited recent sources break the population down:
| Religious group | CONICET-UNSAM survey (2019) | Latinobarómetro (2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Catholic | 62.9% | 63.0% |
| No religion (none, atheist, agnostic) | 18.9% | 26.2% |
| Evangelical / Protestant | 15.3% | ~9% |
| Other religions (Jewish, Muslim, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormon, Buddhist, others) | ~2.9% | ~2% |
Two communities punch far above their percentage. Argentina’s Jewish community (roughly 180,000-200,000 people, most of them in Buenos Aires) is the largest in Latin America. Its Muslim community, estimated at around 1% of the population, is among the largest in the region too. Both have left a visible mark on the capital’s neighborhoods, food and architecture, covered in detail below.
Is Argentina a Catholic Country?
Culturally yes; legally, not quite. Article 2 of the Argentine Constitution says the federal government “sustains” the Roman Catholic Apostolic faith, a unique financial and symbolic status, but Catholicism is not the official state religion, and Article 14 guarantees every inhabitant the right to practice their faith freely. Since the 1994 constitutional reform, the president no longer needs to be Catholic.
The Catholic imprint is easy to spot in daily life. Public holidays follow the liturgical calendar (Easter week, Christmas, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8). Most towns are named after saints or virgins. And everyday Spanish is saturated with religion: ¡Dios mío!, si Dios quiere, ¡Por Dios!: even ojalá (“hopefully”), which entered Spanish from the Arabic inshallah during the centuries of Muslim rule in Spain. Students in our classes are often surprised how much basic vocabulary a little religious history explains.
“The team are very welcoming and happy to help with Spanish and Buenos Aires. My teacher was really engaging and fun, with plenty of patience for my questions…”
Vamos Academy student review
Argentina’s most famous Catholic was, of course, Jorge Mario Bergoglio: Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 until 2013, when he became Pope Francis, the first pope from the Americas. He led the Church until his death in April 2025, and his old seat, the Metropolitan Cathedral on Plaza de Mayo, now draws visitors who come as much for him as for the mausoleum of General San Martín inside. A small museum in the cathedral displays his vestments and mate gourd.
The other essential Catholic site is Luján, 70 km west of Buenos Aires, home of the Virgin of Luján, patroness of Argentina. Every October, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, over a million in some years, walk the roughly 60 km from Liniers to her neo-Gothic basilica, a route lined with volunteers handing out water and bread through the night.
What Are the Top 3 Religions in Argentina?
Counting organized religions only, the top three are:
- 1. Roman Catholicism (~63%): dominant everywhere, strongest in the northern provinces like Salta and Jujuy, weakest in the city of Buenos Aires.
- 2. Evangelical Christianity (9-15%): mostly Pentecostal, growing fastest in the working-class suburbs of Greater Buenos Aires.
- 3. Islam and Judaism (~1% each): small nationally but highly visible in Buenos Aires, where both communities are concentrated.
If you count the religiously unaffiliated as a group, they take second place: a ranking that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.
Why Is Evangelical Christianity Growing So Fast?
Evangelicals, evangélicos in local usage, are Argentina’s fastest-growing faith, roughly tripling their share of the population since the 1980s. Pentecostals account for roughly 13 of the 15.3 percentage points the CONICET survey attributes to Evangelicals. Growth is concentrated in the conurbano, the belt of working-class municipalities surrounding Buenos Aires, where storefront churches, converted cinemas and full-size temples run services that are louder, longer and more participatory than a Catholic Mass, alongside food banks, addiction-recovery programs and job networks.
Sociologists point to exactly that ground-level presence to explain the shift: where the Catholic parish structure thinned out, Pentecostal congregations moved in. Evangelical churches have also become a political force (their opposition was central to the 2018 abortion debate), and no national politician ignores them anymore.
Alongside the Pentecostal boom, Argentina keeps its historic Protestant denominations: Anglican and Methodist churches dating to 19th-century British commerce, Lutheran congregations from German and Danish immigration, and Presbyterian and Baptist communities. Several of their historic buildings appear in our guide to the best churches of Buenos Aires.
Judaism in Argentina: The Largest Community in Latin America
Argentina’s Jewish community of roughly 180,000-200,000 is the largest in Latin America and one of the largest in the world outside Israel and the US. It took shape between the 1880s and 1930s, when Ashkenazi Jews fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe, and Sephardic Jews from Morocco and the Ottoman Empire, arrived in Buenos Aires and in agricultural colonies in Entre Ríos, where Jewish gauchos worked the land.
Today the community is overwhelmingly porteño. The Once and Abasto neighborhoods are its historic heart: kosher butchers and bakeries, Orthodox schools, and a genuine Buenos Aires curiosity, the kosher McDonald’s in the Abasto shopping mall, the only one in the world outside Israel. The elegant Templo Libertad, a Byzantine-style synagogue near the Teatro Colón, houses the Jewish Museum of Buenos Aires and is open to visitors.
The community’s history also carries deep scars. The 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center killed 85 people, the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine history, and remains unresolved in the courts; the rebuilt AMIA building on Calle Pasteur stands behind security barriers as both a working institution and a memorial. For a fuller picture, see our guide to the Jewish community in Argentina.
Walking through Once, Palermo or Plaza de Mayo means more when you can actually talk to the people there. Our Spanish school in Buenos Aires pairs classes with the city itself, churches, cafés, markets and all.
Islam in Argentina
Argentina’s Muslim community, commonly estimated at around 1% of the population, descends largely from Syrian and Lebanese immigrants who arrived in the same great migration waves as the Italians and Spaniards. Arab-Argentines number in the millions (most families converted to Catholicism or secularized over the generations), and their influence is baked into daily life: the shawarma joints of Once, the sfiha-style empanada árabe found across the northwest, and a former president, Carlos Menem, of Syrian descent.
FREE RESOURCES
Free Spanish study pack
Printable study sheets from our teachers, plus one short email a week.
One email, then a short weekly tip. Unsubscribe any time.
The community’s landmark is the King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center in Palermo, Buenos Aires, the largest mosque in Latin America, opened in 2000 on 34,000 m² of municipal land granted during the Menem presidency in 1995. Its prayer halls hold roughly 1,200-1,500 men and 400-500 women, and its white minarets are a startling sight next to the polo fields. The center runs free guided visits open to non-Muslims on set weekdays around midday, check its current schedule before you go; bring photo ID and dress modestly (women are asked to cover their heads, and scarves are lent at the entrance). The older Centro Islámico de la República Argentina (CIRA), founded in 1931, remains the community’s main institutional voice and a regular participant in the city’s interfaith events.
Indigenous Religions and Folk Beliefs
Before the census categories, there were the original belief systems of the Mapuche, Guaraní, Wichí, Qom and Kolla peoples, and they are far from gone. In the northwest, the Andean cult of Pachamama (Mother Earth) is openly practiced: every August 1, families in Jujuy and Salta dig a pit and feed the earth with food, chicha and cigarettes in a ceremony that long predates the Spanish conquest, and which many participants combine comfortably with Catholicism. Mapuche communities in Patagonia maintain the ngillatun ceremony and reverence for Ngenechén; Guaraní spirituality survives in the northeast, woven into local Catholicism. These traditions are inseparable from the country’s linguistic heritage, which we cover in our deep dive into the indigenous languages of Argentina.
Just as alive is Argentina’s homegrown folk religion. Drive any highway and you’ll pass roadside shrines wrapped in red flags: these belong to Gauchito Gil, a 19th-century gaucho Robin Hood whose sanctuary near Mercedes, Corrientes, draws hundreds of thousands of devotees every January 8. Shrines surrounded by bottles of water honor the Difunta Correa, a woman said to have died of thirst in the San Juan desert while her baby survived at her breast; truck drivers leave the bottles to quench her eternal thirst. Neither figure is recognized by the Catholic Church. Both have far more roadside shrines than most saints who are. The Mercedes sanctuary alone receives over 250,000 pilgrims a year, some 350,000 turned out for the 2024 feast day despite torrential rain.
Keeping the four biggest popular devotions straight is easier side by side, note that only one of them is actually recognized by the Church:
| Devotion | Who or what | Main shrine / region | Key date | Typical offering |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gauchito Gil | 19th-century gaucho folk saint (not Church-recognized) | Sanctuary near Mercedes, Corrientes | January 8 | Red flags, candles, thank-you plaques |
| Difunta Correa | Folk saint of travelers (not Church-recognized) | Vallecito, San Juan | Holy Week and year-round | Bottles of water |
| San Cayetano | Catholic saint of bread and work (Church-recognized) | San Cayetano church, Liniers, Buenos Aires | August 7 | Wheat sheaves, prayers for employment |
| Pachamama | Andean Mother Earth, pre-Hispanic deity | Homes and fields across Jujuy and Salta | August 1 | Food, chicha and cigarettes buried in the earth |
How Do Religion and Culture Mix in Argentina?
Loosely, warmly, and on Argentina’s own terms. Christmas falls in high summer: families eat cold vitel toné and drink cider on the night of December 24, and the midnight sky over Buenos Aires fills with fireworks. Easter means packed churches, rosca de Pascua pastries and chocolate eggs, see our guide to Easter celebrations in Buenos Aires. Quinceañeras, baptisms and church weddings remain major social events even for families who rarely attend Mass.
Argentina also wears its religious diversity with little friction. Interfaith cooperation is well established, Bergoglio co-wrote a book with Rabbi Abraham Skorka while archbishop, and Buenos Aires is one of the few cities where a cathedral, Latin America’s largest mosque and Latin America’s largest Jewish community coexist within a few subway stops. That said, the country’s commitment to pluralism was forged partly through tragedy, and institutions like AMIA and CIRA remain active precisely because coexistence takes work.
FAQ: Religion in Argentina
What is the main religion in Argentina?
Roman Catholicism. Recent surveys put Catholics at 58-63% of the population (CONICET 2019: 62.9%; Latinobarómetro 2024: 63%; Pew 2024: 58%), though practice is far lower than affiliation.
What are the top 3 religions in Argentina?
Catholicism (~63%), Evangelical Christianity (9-15%, mostly Pentecostal), and far behind, Islam and Judaism at roughly 1% each. Counting the non-religious as a group, they rank second at 19-26%.
Is Argentina a Catholic country?
Culturally yes, officially no. The Constitution gives the Catholic Church special status (Article 2) but establishes no state religion and guarantees freedom of worship. Since 1994 the president is not required to be Catholic.
How many people in Argentina have no religion?
Between 19% and 26% of Argentines declare no religious affiliation, per the 2019 CONICET and 2024 Latinobarómetro surveys, making the “nones” the country’s second-largest belief group.
Was Pope Francis from Argentina?
Yes. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Flores and served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 until his election as pope in 2013. He died in April 2025.
Does Argentina have a large Jewish community?
Yes, roughly 180,000-200,000 people, the largest Jewish community in Latin America, concentrated in the Buenos Aires neighborhoods of Once and Abasto.
Who is Gauchito Gil?
Antonio Gil was a 19th-century gaucho outlaw turned folk saint, executed near Mercedes, Corrientes, in 1878. Though never recognized by the Catholic Church, his red-flagged sanctuary draws over 250,000 pilgrims a year, with the biggest crowds on his feast day, January 8. Red-flag roadside shrines to him line highways across the whole country.
Is there freedom of religion in Argentina?
Yes. Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees every inhabitant the right to practice their faith freely, and there is no official state religion, though Article 2 gives the Catholic Church a special “sustained” status. Buenos Aires hosts active Jewish, Muslim, Evangelical and interfaith institutions side by side.
What is the largest mosque in Latin America?
The King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center in Palermo, Buenos Aires. Opened in 2000 on 34,000 m² of land granted in 1995, its prayer halls hold roughly 1,200-1,500 men and 400-500 women, and it offers free guided visits to non-Muslims on set weekdays.
Final Thoughts
Argentina’s religious story is really three stories running at once: a Catholic majority that grows more cultural and less observant each decade, an Evangelical movement filling the gap in the suburbs, and a fast-growing secular population, all layered over Jewish, Muslim, indigenous and folk traditions that give Buenos Aires and the provinces their texture. Understanding that mix explains a lot about Argentina: its holidays, its politics, its roadside shrines, and half the expressions that come out of an Argentine’s mouth.
The best way to explore any of this is in Spanish. Vamos Academy teaches travelers and expats in Buenos Aires, small groups, group courses from €200 a week, and a city full of places to practice.
Test yourself
Quick quiz
Quick quiz: religion in Argentina
0 of 5 answered
