Open Doors’ World Watch List 2024

Open Doors released the World Watch List 2024, an annual resource “ranking…the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.” Open Doors has been tracking religious persecution of Christians since the 1970s and their approach to the work is well-informed and reliable. Religious persecution affects many religious groups and not just Christians, but Open Doors offers specific insights into the religious persecution of Christians globally.

Here are a few highlights within the overall trends on this year’s list:

• The Top 10 countries where Christians face the most pressure and violence in the reporting period of the World Watch List 2024 are, in order: North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, and Afghanistan.
• North Korea has returned to the #1 position; North Korea has held that top position most frequently over the past decade and more
• Political instability, war and extremism has created a perilous situation for Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa. Amid lawlessness, jihadist groups like al-Qaeda and Boko Haram have thrived. Weak governments fail to stop them. And militants attack Christian communities and churches with impunity. Most Christians murdered for their faith in 2023 were killed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria accounted for nine out of 10 religiously-motivated murders. Christians were also killed in Congo (DRC), Burkina Faso, Cameroon and the Central African Republic (CAR).
• In just the last year, there have been:
  • Over 365 million Christians (1 in 7) living in places where they experience high levels of persecution and discrimination
  • 4,998 Christians were killed for faith related reasons last year
  • More than 14,700 churches or Christian properties such as schools and hospitals were targeted in 2023. It marked a six-fold increase compared with attacks recorded the previous year.
  • In 2023, more than twice as many Christians were forced to flee their homes compared to the previous year. Political instability, war, extremism and natural disasters have all driven believers from their homelands across the Middle East and North Africa.
  • Here is a video that summarizes the top 10 countries where Christians face extreme

Here is a video that summarizes the top 10 countries where Christians face extreme persecution.