Membership in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) has reached nearly 370,000, while baptisms increased by 33.7 per cent from the previous year. Average worship attendance, however, declined slightly, and territories showed substantial differences in both membership size and age structure.
The NSD Secretariat presented data on membership, demographics, and its five-year missionary deployment plan during the division's Annual Council, held November 5–9, at the division headquarters in Paju, Korea.
According to the report, NSD membership reached 369,714 in 2025, up 7,883 (2.2 per cent) from 361,831 the previous year. The largest rise occurred in 2023, when Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal were added to the division’s territory. As a result, membership increased from 288,833 in 2022 to 356,203 in 2023.
The division recorded 8,868 baptisms and professions of faith in 2025, up 2,233 (33.7 per cent) from 6,635 the previous year. Bangladesh recorded the highest number with 2,888, followed by Korea with 2,862 and Pakistan with 2,471. Together, the three territories accounted for 92.7 per cent of all baptisms in the territory.
Annual baptisms had fallen to 2,010 in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began. The number then rose steadily to 2,244 in 2021, 2,877 in 2022, 4,838 in 2023, and 6,635 in 2024. However, because statistics from 2023 onward include the four newly added territories, the entire increase cannot be interpreted as evangelistic growth within the division’s preexisting territories.
Despite growth in membership and baptisms, average worship attendance declined by 1,219, or 1.6 per cent, from 77,707 in 2024 to 76,488 in 2025. Average attendance had fallen to about 24,000 during the pandemic before recovering to approximately 76,000, but it fell again in 2025.
Average worship attendance in 2025 represented 20.7 per cent of registered membership. This was 19.2 percentage points below the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church attendance rate of 39.9 per cent shown in the presentation.
Bangladesh recorded an attendance rate of 45.7 per cent, followed closely by Taiwan at 45.3 per cent. Pakistan recorded 38.6 per cent, Japan 25.6 per cent, Sri Lanka 20.8 per cent, Korea 15.6 per cent, and Mongolia 13.7 per cent. Pakistan’s rate fell 11.7 percentage points from 50.3 per cent the previous year, while Sri Lanka’s declined 7.8 percentage points from 28.6 per cent. Nepal’s attendance rate could not be calculated because average attendance data were unavailable.
Separate demographic data showed that women accounted for 58.0 per cent of members, compared with 41.8 per cent for men. Pakistan was the only territory where men were the majority, accounting for 56.7 per cent of members compared with 43.3 per cent for women. Women formed the majority in every other territory.
Members aged 36 to 50 accounted for 22.5 per cent of the total, while those aged 51 to 65 accounted for 22.6 per cent. Together, members aged 36 to 65 represented 45.1 per cent of the division’s membership. Members aged 35 or younger numbered 99,586, while those aged 66 or older numbered 98,211, making the two groups nearly equal. Notably, 44,159 members aged 80 or older outnumbered 33,350 members aged 20 or younger by 10,809.
The generational profile also varied significantly among territories. Members age 35 or younger accounted for 53.8 per cent of membership in Bangladesh, compared with only 22.7 per cent in Korea. In Korea, members age 66 or older represented 31.0 per cent of the total, exceeding the share of members age 35 or younger and highlighting the need for pastoral strategies that address an aging membership.
Regional differences also varied widely in population per church member. Separate figures in the report showed a division-wide average of one church member per 1,850 residents. Korea had one member per 190 residents, while Mongolia had approximately one per 950 residents. Pakistan had one member per 11,141 residents, and Japan had approximately one per 8,200 residents. The difference between Korea and Pakistan was about 59-fold.
The Secretariat plans to reorganize its missionary management system to address these regional disparities. The NSD currently administers 69 active missionaries. They include 22 domestic and church-planting missionaries, including those serving through the Pioneer Mission Movement; 22 missionaries sent by the NSD to other regions; and 25 missionaries sent to the NSD from other regions.
The Secretariat will directly oversee missionary responsibilities previously managed by individual departments. The Secretariat will also apply common standards used throughout the global Adventist Church to missionary selection, deployment, support, and field management. Missionaries will be assigned first to territories with the greatest need.
Lay members with the necessary qualifications and training will be given more opportunities to serve as missionaries. Every territory will be encouraged to send missionaries, and a dedicated team will support missionaries and their families as they adjust to local life. The division also plans to participate systematically in specialized international missionary training provided by the General Conference.
NSD leaders say the division aims to increase its missionary team from 69 members to more than 100 within the next five years. Achieving this goal will require at least 31 additional missionaries, an increase of about 45 per cent. The division plans to secure the necessary budget and administrative support for missionary deployment while strengthening cooperation with the General Conference and other world divisions.
The original article was published on the Northern Asia-Pacific Division news site.
