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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yoruba of Nigeria

The Yoruba of Nigeria, numbering approximately 48,850,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a West African ethnic group indigenous to Yorubaland, an are that spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo They are an Indigenous people, with Yoruba as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Yoruba people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and Yoruba is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Yoruba

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Yoruba
Primary Language(s): Yoruba (yor)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 48,850,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014193
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Pray for the Yoruba of Nigeria

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

60%
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yoruba
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Yoruba Speakers

Media Resources in Yoruba:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Yoruba:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2004 Bible Society of Nigeria✓
2012 Bible Society of Nigeria✓
Yoruba Contemporary Bible✓

3 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Yoruba bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yoruba are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Yoruba:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Yoruba of Nigeria

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
readPsalm 68:4

Pray that many will come to faith in Christ and share the gospel with others so that His salvation will be known among all nations.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 8:38-39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence in their salvation, knowing that nothing can separate them from the One who conquered death and loves them as His children.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

Yoruba Across Countries (ROP3 - 111095) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
YorubaPG014193YorubaNigeria48,850,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG013390YorubaGhana531,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaPG012364YorubaBenin265,000Engaged yet UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion
YorubaPG047644YorubaUnited States152,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion
YorubaPG013151YorubaCote d’Ivoire150,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG014462YorubaTogo144,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG013173YorubaEquatorial Guinea130,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism
YorubaPG013615YorubaNiger90,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaPG012463YorubaBurkina Faso85,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaPG050477YorubaCanada10,500No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG014300YorubaSierra Leone7,400No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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