The Congregation’s personnel
As of 31 December 2025, there were a total of 13,444 professed Salesians, to which 114 Bishops were added, for a total of 13,558 Sons of Don Bosco. The distribution by qualification shows that priests represent the majority with 9,116 (67.81%), followed by clerics (2,654; 19.74%), brothers (coadjutors) (1,276; 9.49%), novices (384; 2.86%) and permanent deacons (14; 0.10%).
Compared to the previous year, the number of members has fallen slightly (-96), due to the excess of deaths and departures (233 and 264, respectively) over admissions (398 novices and 3 re-admissions).
Young vocations: a figure to reflect on
The data relating to the new generations deserves particular attention. The 384 novices present at the end of 2025 represent the future of the Congregation. Of those who started during the year, only 18 left, while 4 novices from 2024 obtained an extension of their novitiate. The personnel in formation also includes 423 prenovices, 939 postnovices, 492 practical trainees, 757 theology students and 373 university students.
During the year, 364 new professions, 209 new perpetual vows and 151 new priests were celebrated: tangible signs of a formation journey that continues to bear fruit, despite demographic challenges.
Salesian Houses around the world
The total number of Salesian Houses amounts to 1,850, of which 1,598 are canonically erected with a resident Salesian community and 119 are not canonically erected but have a Salesian presence. The rules on the composition of houses require no fewer than four confreres with perpetual vows for canonically open houses and no fewer than three for those that are not canonically open.
The geography of the Salesian presence
The geographical distribution sees India in first place with 2,742 professed members, followed by Italy (1,704), Poland (755), Spain (725) and Brazil (566). These five countries together represent over 45% of the entire Congregation.
Methodological details e interpretation of numbers
The 2025 data also include some corrections to the 2024 Flash, due to the regularisation of pending situations and the integration of documents received during the year. The complete data have been processed and collected divided by province, country and Salesian Region.
“These statistics are not just impersonal numbers and figures: they are indicators of the life and dynamism that the Congregation continues to experience 166 years after its foundation – commented Fr Garino –. These data represent and express, in the way that numbers can, all the various dimensions in which the Salesian presence has taken root in the world, becoming a travelling companion to countless people and tracing a path of light that, thanks to God, shows no sign of stopping”.
