Religious institutes for women may be dedicated to contemplative or monastic life or to apostolic work such as education or the provision of health care and spiritual support to the community.
Some religious institutes have ancient origins, as with Benedictine nuns, whose monastic way of life developed from the 6th-century Rule of Saint Benedict.
Benedict of Nursia is considered the father of western monasticism and his sister, Scholastica, is the patron saint of nuns.

In 2012, the largest women's institute was the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco (also known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) who had 14,091 members living in 1,436 communities in 94 countries.
In numerical terms they were followed by the Carmelites (9,413), Claretian Sisters (7,171), Franciscan Clarist Congregation (7,076) and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (6,698).

The number of professed women religious has been decreasing in recent decades.
Worldwide, the number dropped from around 729,371 in 2009 to around 721,935 in 2010.
The decline resulted from trends in Europe, America and Oceania (-2.9% in Europe, in Oceania -2.6% and -1.6% in America), however In Africa and Asia, there was a significant increase of 2%.

The website of the Vicariate of Rome gives a list of over 700 religious institutes for women.
Religious institutes for women may be dedicated to contemplative or monastic life or to apostolic work such as education or the provision of health care and spiritual support to the community. Some religious institutes have ancient origins, as with Benedictine nuns, whose monastic way of life developed from the 6th-century Rule of Saint Benedict. Benedict of Nursia is considered the father of western monasticism and his sister, Scholastica, is the patron saint of nuns.
In 2012, the largest women's institute was the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco (also known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) who had 14,091 members living in 1,436 communities in 94 countries. In numerical terms they were followed by the Carmelites (9,413), Claretian Sisters (7,171), Franciscan Clarist Congregation (7,076) and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (6,698).
The number of professed women religious has been decreasing in recent decades. Worldwide, the number dropped from around 729,371 in 2009 to around 721,935 in 2010. The decline resulted from trends in Europe, America and Oceania (-2.9% in Europe, in Oceania -2.6% and -1.6% in America), however In Africa and Asia, there was a significant increase of 2%.
The website of the Vicariate of Rome gives a list of over 700 religious institutes for women.
Women in the Catholic Church