| Years | 1970 | 1975 | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 |
| Total Secular Ordinations | 4622 | 4140 | 3860 | 4822 | 5938 | 6444 | 6814 |
| Europe | 2548 | 1966 | 1682 | 2097 | 2456 | 2475 | 2321 |
| Latin America | 414 | 536 | 528 | 911 | 1246 | 1454 | 1685 |
| Africa | 197 | 284 | 397 | 492 | 716 | 939 | 1177 |
| Asia | 508 | 447 | 562 | 645 | 959 | 1041 | 1094 |
| North America | 890 | 835 | 648 | 612 | 517 | 489 | 471 |
| Oceania | 65 | 71 | 43 | 65 | 44 | 46 | 66 |
| Year | Total RC Population | Number of Priests | Number of Mass Centres | Ratio of RC Pop. To priests | Ratio of priests to Mass Centres |
| 1841 | 500000 est | 561 | 474 | 891/1 | 1.18/1 |
| 1851 | 1000000 est | 826 | 597 | 1211/1 | 1.38/1 |
| 1861 | 1100000 est | 1165 | 798 | 944/1 | 1.46/1 |
| 1871 | 1200000 est | 1551 | 947 | 774/1 | 1.64/1 |
| 1881 | 1400000 est | 2498 | 1335 | 560/1 | 1.87/1 |
| 1901 | 1500000 | 2856 | 1536 | 525/1 | 1.86/1 |
| 1911 | 1700000 | 3766 | 1773 | 451/1 | 2.12/1 |
| 1921 | 1900000 | 3989 | 1932 | 476/1 | 2.06/1 |
| 1931 | 2200000 | 4484 | 2228 | 491/1 | 2.01/1 |
| 1941 | 2400000 | 5838 | 2580 | 411/1 | 2.26/1 |
| 1951 | 2800000 | 6728 | 2910 | 416/1 | 2.31/1 |
| 1961 | 3500000 | 7465 | 4258 | 469/1 | 1.75/1 |
| 1971 | 4000000 | 7618 | 3772 | 525/1 | 2.02/1 |
| 1981 | 4300000 | 7016 | 3775 | 613/1 | 1.86/1 |
| 1991 | 4300000 | 6261 | 4016 | 687/1 | 1.56/1 |
| 2001 | 4200000 | 5600 | 3673 | 750/1 | 1.52/1 |