Geneva — Africa's Lutheran churches saw their total membership increase over the past year by just under two million.

The growth boosts the total membership of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches worldwide to over 68.3 million.

Lutheran churches in Asia registered an increase overall, while slight decreases were recorded in other world regions.

Over the past year, LWF church membership in Africa rose by 1,926,407, or 12.7 percent, to reach a total of 17,129,230. The membership of non-LWF Lutheran churches in Africa remained unchanged at 56,069.

With an increase of 368,861 members, or 8.2 percent, to 4,869,157, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, the largest LWF member church on the continent, now becomes the second largest worldwide. The Church of Sweden remains the world's biggest Lutheran church with 6.9 million members.

Among African churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, the continent's second largest Lutheran church, recorded the highest membership increase - 32.4 percent--with an additional 1,132,480 new members to reach a total of 4,632,480, making it the fourth largest Lutheran church in the world.

The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria saw its membership rise by 380,630, or 27.9 percent, to 1,745,050. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana also grew a substantial 25.1 percent, with membership up 5,521 to reach 27,521.

Membership in the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church was up by 8,000, or 22.2 percent, to 44,000. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi reported 60,000 members, for an increase of 10,000 or 20 percent.

Other churches in the continent recording an over 10 percent increase included the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Angola and Cameroon.