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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yoruba of Nigeria

The Yoruba of Nigeria, numbering approximately 48,900,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group indigenous to Yorubaland, an are that spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. 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: 48,900,000
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

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readMark 10:15

Pray for those who might be trapped in pride, that God will humble them and give them a childlike faith and complete dependence on Him through faith in Christ.

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
readMark 10:14b

Praise Jesus for the way He loves children, asking that many will learn the truth about Him and come to Him unhindered.

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.
readPsalm 105:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice as they remember His wonders, miracles, and perfect judgements.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
YorubaPG013173YorubaEquatorial Guinea130,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism
YorubaPG014300YorubaSierra Leone7,400No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism
YorubaPG013151YorubaCote d’Ivoire150,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG014193YorubaNigeria48,900,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG014462YorubaTogo144,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG050477YorubaCanada10,500No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaPG012463YorubaBurkina Faso85,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaPG013390YorubaGhana532,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaPG013615YorubaNiger90,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaPG012364YorubaBenin265,000Engaged yet UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion
YorubaPG047644YorubaUnited States152,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion

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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