North Korea is the most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian, while Nigeria is the deadliest, according to the Open Doors World Watch List 2026 (WWL) published today.
The annual report also finds that the number of Christians experiencing high levels of persecution for their faith has risen to 388 million in the last year - an increase of 8 million since the last WWL.
These figures translate to one in seven Christians worldwide experiencing persecution, two in five across Asia, and one in five in Africa.
North Korea has topped the WWL rankings for 29 out of the last 30 years. The closed-off communist country headed by supreme leader Kim Jong Un severely punishes anyone caught with a Bible or practising the Christian faith. Christians must worship "in utmost secrecy" and the result is a church "driven deeper and deeper underground as the pressure intensifies".
"The score remains close to the maximum possible. If Christians are discovered, they and their families are deported to labour camps or executed," said Open Doors.
The report reads, "In a nation dominated by political indoctrination, stories are circulated that missionaries poison children or steal their organs. There is zero freedom of religion or belief. To avoid torture, execution or incarceration in labour camps, Christians have been driven underground."
Nigeria - ranked 7th on the WWL - had the highest proportion of Christians killed for their faith. Out of the 4,849 recorded Christians killed worldwide for their faith during the reporting period, Nigeria accounted for a staggering 70 per cent of these deaths (3,490).
Open Doors said the global death toll was "conservative" as Open Doors "only verifies cases where deaths could be reasonably linked to victims’ Christian faith".
The persecution of Christians in Nigeria has come to the fore in recent months after mass abductions and increased attention from the US which redesignated it a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and carried out strikes on Islamist militant bases over Christmas specifically in response to the targeting of Christians.
While some governments and media have tried to play down the level of violence affecting Nigerian Christians and the religious dimension, Open Doors said the statistics show "Christians have clearly been disproportionately targeted".
In Benue state, some 1,310 Christians were killed compared to only 29 Muslims, Open Doors said. Similarly, in Plateau state, there were 546 recorded killings of Christians, compared to only 48 Muslim deaths, while in Taraba state, 73 Christians and 12 Muslims were killed. Last year 1,116 Christians were abducted in Kaduna state in the north-west of the country, compared to 101 Muslims.
Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland said: “This latest research surely leaves us in no doubt that this is more than a simple two-sided conflict over land. And it follows eyewitness reports of the attackers shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘We will destroy all Christians.’
"The Christians of these regions know they are being targeted for their faith and they tell us so. It’s time that we take them seriously.”
Blyth welcomed the increased international attention on the situation in Nigeria but lamented that there is all too often "little action".
"According to Open Doors’ research Nigeria remains the country where more Christians are killed for their faith than all other countries put together," she wrote in the foreword to the report.
"We call on the UK government and international community to support the Nigerian government in trying to stop the violence and start the healing.
"Several years ago the extremist violence started in Nigeria and swept across the region, now it is time for justice and restoration to do the same."
While the worst of the violence against Christians in Africa is currently to be found in Nigeria, it is not limited to this country.
Open Doors called sub-Saharan Africa "an unfolding tragedy" and said that the scale of persecution there was "staggering", with 14 nations on the WWL and Nigeria, Sudan and Mali receiving the maximum scores for violence. While North Korea has taken first place in this year's WWL, it is immediately followed by Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Eritrea.
"A similar pattern can be seen across the region: Islamist militants enter the vacuums in law and order left by weak junta and civil conflicts," said Open Doors.
"It means they can operate with impunity across parts of Burkina Faso (16), Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo (29), Central African Republic (22), Somalia (2), Niger (26) and Mozambique (39).
"Their stated aim is to create 'Sharia states' operating under their deadly interpretation of Islamic law."
Another country highlighted in the report is Syria where years of civil war followed by turmoil in the post-Assad era have triggered "an ongoing exodus of Christians".
While the country ranked 18th in 2025's WWL, a "spike in violence against Christians" has seen it rise this year to 6th place. The violence includes a suicide attack in Damascus last June that killed 22 Christians. Local sources say that the suicide attack made many Christians stop going to church, too fearful of more attacks.
There are also reports of vehicles with loudspeakers being driven through Christian neighbourhoods in Damascus telling residents to convert to Islam. In the Kurdish region, 14 Christian schools were closed after they refused to adopt a new curriculum.
Open Doors' Middle East expert, who cannot be named for security reasons, said: "When the Assad regime fell, there was cautious optimism that Syria's Christians might find respite under new leadership.
"Instead, we have seen a devastating reversal - a suicide bomber, churches desecrated, and Christians forced into displacement. This stark reality demands urgent international attention."
He added, "The attack in Damascus prompted many Christians to stop attending church. They are afraid of further attacks, and it’s driven them to hide Christian symbols and avoid any public displays of faith.”
With Christians increasingly fearful and hopeless about their future in Syria, many are choosing to leave the country. Open Doors reports that the Christian population has fallen from 1.1 million in 2015 to just 300,000 today.
It is not the only nation in the Middle East where Christians are leaving in large numbers as a similar trend can be seen in Iraq, which ranks 18th on this year's WWL, and the Palestinian Territories (63rd).
"Capturing precise numbers for the Christian populations of Middle East nations is challenging. However, a mixture of reports all point to a significant, ongoing exodus from the birthplace of Christianity," said Open Doors.
The World Watch List is available in full here.
