Persecution trends

There are some places in the world where following Jesus is so dangerous that it should be impossible. Places where Christians can’t worship together. Where owning a Bible can mean a death sentence.

In these countries, more than 388 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. Of those Christians, 315 million are on the World Watch List (WWL) top 50 countries and face very high or extreme levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.

In these WWL countries, faith is so opposed that it should not even exist. Yet, with your support, it survives and even thrives.

Here is what you need to know about the trends driving persecution in some of the world’s most dangerous places to be a Christian…

A surge of violence returns Syria to the top 10

A year ago, Syria’s score was 78; this year it is 90, its highest ever. The 12-point jump is among the largest single-year increases registered by any country under the World Watch List methodology in place since 2014. The country ranks No. 6, up from No. 18 in 2025. It is the only newcomer to the Top 10.

The reason for the increase:

• In December 2024 the Assad regime fell and HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham) took control.
• Mostly caused by a strong increase in the number of reported Christians killed and churches attacked as
  well as Christian schools closed. Forced closures of Christian institutions is counted toward the violence
  score.

In Syria the Christian population is also decreasing

• An estimated 300 000 Christians remain (down hundreds of thousands from 10 years ago).
• Dwindling numbers leave Christians more exposed as they don’t have tribal affiliations for protection.

Violence against Christians continues to increase in sub-Saharan Africa

Violence against Christians is increasing and weak governments leave believers exposed in lawless regions.

The Christian context in Syria is compelling, but the sheer scale of Christians across the 14 Sub-Saharan African countries on the World Watch List is orders of magnitude greater. Nigeria is the 6th-most populous country in the world; Ethiopia is 11th; together they are larger than the United States.

In these 14 countries:

• More than 721 million people, nearly half of whom identify as Christian.
• One of every 8 Christians on planet Earth lives in the 14 Sub-Saharan countries that appear on the 2026 World Watch List.

Among the 14 Sub-Saharan countries on the 2026 World Watch List, five have endured the overthrow of their government in the past five years. Two have suspended their constitutions, including Niger, where the military threw out the government in 2023. A third country, Eritrea, ruled by the same totalitarian regime since its founding, has not implemented a constitution it drafted 28 years ago. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the constitution is 10 years old, the government turned back a takeover attempt just two years ago. Instability permeates the region.

Nigeria, the global epicentre

Nigeria simultaneously fits into the wider patterns of Christian persecution throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, and stands apart from it. The most populous African nation, home to the continent’s largest Christian population, it has always been included on the World Watch List, and has ranked in the Top 10 since 2021.

The reason for Nigeria being the global epicentre:

• Of the 4 849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith, 3 490 were Nigerian (up from 3 100 previous
  year).
• Violence score at maximum for 8 consecutive years.
• June 2025: 4-hour Yelwata attack killed 258 people (mostly women/children).
• Multiple terror groups converging: Lakurawa (northwest), Mahmuda, Ansaru (Kogi state), Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (both northeast) – Muslim ethnic Fulani militants active in Middle Belt.
• There are 3.4 million Nigerians internally displaced.

Nigeria is not confronting a direct frontal assault on its government, but it remains, mostly in its northern states but increasingly in the South, beset by a severe combination of ethno-religious hostility, Islamic militancy, weak governance, and organized crime.

Church driven to isolation

Surveillance and heavy regulation splinter Christian fellowship and push churches underground.

A close inspection of the 2026 World Watch List will reveal, among some countries, something subtle but real: a Church that is being driven to isolation less by violence and more by pressures in the other areas of Christian life.

One example is Algeria, where the Church has been driven underground:

• All 47 Protestant churches had ceased activities prior to 2026 WWL reporting period.
• 75%+ of Algerian Christians have lost connection to fellowship. A long-term trend.
• In December 2024 the government shut down a Christian Facebook group with 50 000+ followers.

A pattern in North Africa

• In Mauritania there is the death penalty for abandoning Islam (symbolic but chilling); 2-point score increase primarily from
  non-violence categories. Churches operate very carefully.
• In Tunisia since 2021 authoritarian return, intensified surveillance; raided church gatherings; arrested
  foreign Christians.

Digital control in China drives the church underground

A continent away, the trend toward Christian isolation also is playing out in China, though it is a vastly different country with very different tools at its disposal. China’s World Watch List score rose to a record 79 points in 2026, but violence was not responsible for any of that increase. Instead, it was a surge in the score in the national life category that made the difference.

The reason for this:

• In September 2025, the government implemented new regulations for on online religious behaviour (18 rules), e.g.:
  • Must support Chinese Communist Party
  • Preach only on licensed websites
  • No Bible apps, religious publications, or youth outreach
  • No fundraising, no live video on social media, no “healing” discussions

Regulations like these, implemented in a strict and uniform manner, are making it increasingly difficult for churches to avoid having to fall in line with official Communist ideology.

The online rules implemented in 2025 fit into a string of Chinese regulations implemented since 2018 that govern internet use, social media, non-government organisations, and religious venues. Official recognition is granted only to churches belonging to government-sanctioned collectives. As a result of this house churches, once meeting in large commercial spaces, now meet in groups of 10-20 in covert homes. While unregistered Unregistered church pastors increasingly face accusations of economic crimes and fraud for collecting offerings, or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.