From Martin Wolf‘s superb book Why Globalization Works:
The most successful European religious export of the twentieth century was Marxism-Leninism [p. 101].
The Hallucinogen of the Elites
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One wonders what his definition of success is: numbers of people imprisoned/killed? Wrecked economies? Collapse within 100 years of establishment?
By "success" Wolf means simply, but significantly, the number of people who converted into believers, or at least sympathizers, with Marxism's fantasies.
This is an extraordinary book. It is stacked with data refuting most anti-globalization's claims, yet maturely acknowledges the few points that are sensible.
I have a hard time believing that more people converted to Marxism-Leninism than Christianity.
While I agree with Steven that it is implausible that more people converted to Marxism than Christianity in the 20th century, I've often said something similar to the quotation above.
Marx was right that religion is the opiate of the masses. Marxism, though, is a religion.
Regarding the numbers of Marxist vs. Christian converts, perhaps he's referring to the rate of change, not the level. For instance, China's economy still stinks in per capita terms, but it has had whopping big change rates in the last few decades and in that sense has been highly successful. The high growth rates were due in part to comunism, which beat down the Chinese economy to such a low, obsolete base that adopting even two-or-three-decades-old technology led to a 'great leap'.