More than 388 million Christians, representing about one in seven believers globally, are subjected to high levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith, according to a new report.
The figure was released by Open Doors International, a global advocacy organisation for persecuted Christians, in its World Watch List 2026 report, an annual assessment that evaluates the severity of Christian persecution in about 50 countries.
For the 24th straight year, North Korea was ranked as the most dangerous country for Christians, largely due to a state policy that prohibits worship of any entity other than the ruling Kim regime, the report said.
According to Open Doors, anyone identified as one of the estimated 400,000 Christians in North Korea risks severe punishment.
“If found to be one of the 400,000 estimated Christians in North Korea, ‘you and your family could be immediately executed or sent to a terrible labor camp — forever,’” the organisation said, citing the country’s 2020 “anti-reactionary thought law,” which it said has “made it even clearer that being a Christian and owning a Bible is a serious crime.”
The report also listed Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Libya and Iran as countries with “extreme” levels of Christian persecution.
Open Doors traces its roots to postwar efforts by its founder to smuggle Bibles into the former Soviet Union.
In Nigeria alone, nearly 3,500 Christians were killed in the past year, according to the report.
Several priests were among those killed, while cases of abductions of Christians were also reported to have increased.
Most of the countries topping the 2026 World Watch List are in Africa and Southeast Asia, with a smaller number in Central and South America.
Open Doors noted that measuring Christian persecution — which it defines as “any hostility experienced as a result of one’s identification with Christ” — is a complex process because persecution is “multidimensional” and often intersects with factors such as gender and ethnicity.
The organisation said it relies on a “longstanding underground network” and its “commitment to working with local Christians” to ensure that its findings are “almost always based on direct eyewitness accounts.” It also draws from in-country media reports and international news services.
Because of its close relationships with churches and pastors, Open Doors said it is “careful to protect the identity of persecuted Christians,” noting that it often “cannot disclose the nature or location of the assistance we are providing in full detail.”
The group focuses its data collection on six key areas: restrictions or threats to practising faith in private life, family life, community life, national life and church life, as well as levels of violence — mental, physical and sexual — faced by Christians in the 150 countries it monitors.
Each of these areas is scored, with countries given an overall rating out of 100. Scores between 81 and 100 are classified as “extreme,” 61 to 80 as “very high,” and 41 to 60 as “high.”
Open Doors said its research findings are independently audited by the International Institute for Religious Freedom, an organisation that promotes religious freedom through academic research and policy engagement.
According to the report, Christian persecution occurs for a wide range of reasons. Conflict, chaos and anarchy were identified as major drivers, creating “lawless zones where criminal gangs and religious extremists can attack Christians secure in the knowledge that they will not face any consequences.”
Countries such as Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Myanmar were cited as examples of states weakened by a breakdown in lawful authority. Syria was described as “the most striking example” over the past year, with the fall of the Assad regime leading to “a surge of violence” and pushing the country up 12 places on the list.
The report also noted that some countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, show a “split personality,” with pockets of intense persecution existing alongside areas of “relative tranquillity” for Christians.
Nigeria was highlighted as a key example, with large churches thriving in the south while thousands of Christians have been killed and millions displaced in the northern regions.
In authoritarian and dictatorial states such as North Korea, Nicaragua, Cuba and China, Open Doors said “persecution operates within a wider suffocation of rights, reinforced by media censorship, weak courts and oppressive surveillance.”
Elsewhere, persecution is sometimes driven by “greed, corruption and crime,” particularly in parts of Central and South America. In Mexico, the report said criminal gangs and cartels often target church leaders and Christian groups involved in mediation or humanitarian assistance.
Open Doors added that persecution can also be linked to poverty, food shortages and land competition driven by climate change, stressing that “whatever the motivation … Christians make easy targets.”
Nationalism and religious intolerance were also cited as contributing factors, especially as “the world is becoming more partisan, more divided,” and as more states define religion as part of national identity. In the Maldives, the report noted that “it is assumed that all citizens are Muslim,” while in India, the fusion of nationality and Hinduism has resulted in anti-conversion laws in several states.
Despite the challenges, Open Doors said faith itself remains a powerful factor. “Perhaps the most potent and powerful reason for persecution is the faith of the church itself,” the report stated, adding that in all the countries surveyed, “the church is still present and alive,” and in some places “even growing.”
The report also featured testimonies from Christians living under persecution. In North Korea, where believers are said to be “too afraid to speak of their faith openly, even to their children,” Christians practise their faith quietly and in secrecy.
One North Korean escapee quoted in the report said, “If you could see what God is doing in my country, you would never have any doubts again. The Holy Spirit is at work, thanks to your prayers.”
