388 Million Christians Face Persecution Worldwide, Report Finds
Approximately 388 million Christians are facing high levels of persecution and discrimination, an increase of over 8 million from last year, according to persecution watchdog group Open Doors US.
According to The Christian Post, Open Doors released the 2026 World Watch List, an annual ranking list of the top 50 countries where Christian persecution is most prevalent.
"We're seeing a continuation of a multi-year trend where persecution is expanding," Ryan Brown, the CEO of Open Doors US, told The Christian Post. "That number moved from 380 million to 388 million this last year."
He noted that there is "expansion of the levels of really extreme violence that are taking place”, including sub-Saharan Africa, which has about 14 countries on the watch list. For instance, Brown said Nigeria is "at the center of a lot of the things going on," including 3,490 Nigerian Christians killed this year out of 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith, which marks an increase from 3,100 last year.
Meanwhile, Somalia ranked on the list as the second most dangerous country for the fourth consecutive year.
"Somali Christians are among the most extremely persecuted in the world," he said. "You could be sitting in a cafeteria, enjoying your meal, and somebody could come and attempt to decapitate you, to cut your head off."
Over in Syria, the country saw the highest-ever single-year increase in persecution scores since 2014, following the Assad regime's collapse and the increase of extremists filling the power vacuums.
Overall, North Korea remains the most dangerous country for Christians, with the report noting that artificial intelligence is being used to identify "suspicious behavior patterns" that could possibly indicate someone is a Christian believer.
Brown hopes that Christians would use the list as a way to pray for their fellow believers who are being persecuted worldwide for their faith.
"For the most part, these are prayer points that our brothers and sisters on the ground have told us," he said. "These are the things that they are praying for. So utilize that World Watch List as a resource, not just to be informed, but to know how we can not just pray for our brothers and sisters, but actually be praying with our brothers and sisters."
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/George Muresan
Originally published January 19, 2026.
