Last year, for the first time in nearly a decade, Syria ranked among the top 10 countries in Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List (WWL) as the most difficult countries to be a Christian, with more than 388 million Christians facing high levels of persecution and discrimination around the world.
“The intensity of persecution and discrimination continues to increase, with more than 388 million Christians around the world, or one in seven people, facing high levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith,” the WWL report said. “That’s 8 million more people than last year.”
One in five Christians in Africa faces at least high levels of persecution or discrimination because of their faith. Two out of five people in Asia are Christians. In Latin America, 1 in 12 people.
Due to an escalation in anti-Christian violence, Syria has jumped from 18th place in 2025 to 6th place in the 2026 report released today (January 14).
“It is the only emerging country in the top 10. The biggest reason is the nine-point jump in its violence score,” the WWL report said, noting that Syria’s violence score (maximum 16.7 points) for the period October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025 jumped to 16.1 points from 7 points a year earlier.
Syria’s overall persecution score rose from 78 to 90, the highest on record.
“The 12-point increase is one of the largest single-year increases recorded by any country under the Global Watch List methodology implemented since 2014,” the report said. “A surge in violence has pushed the country back into the top 10, and the Christian population continues to decline.”
In the absence of reliable statistics, Open Doors estimates that there are currently around 300,000 Christians left in Syria, hundreds of thousands fewer than there were a decade ago. Their numbers are decreasing, making them even more vulnerable. In the absence of state-provided security, tribal affiliation, which provides some degree of protection, is unavailable to many indigenous Christians and nearly all converts.
“Across the country, tribalism intertwined with Islam views converts from Islam to Christianity as treason, leading to fierce opposition from families and local leaders,” the report said.
At least 27 Syrian Christians were killed for their faith during the reporting period, but the report notes that the actual number is probably much higher.
“Over the past 12 months, the total was zero,” the report noted. “This, combined with the increase in attacks on churches and the forced closure of Christian schools, explains the sharp rise in the country’s violence score.”
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, in June 2025, a suicide bombing allegedly carried out by Islamic State cells occurred during a prayer service at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, killing 22 Christians and injuring 63 others. The report said the attacks prompted many Christians to stop attending services and join churches to reduce their activities.
“In December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed and the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control, and the situation surrounding Christians changed dramatically once again,” the report said.
Violence was not the only reason for Syria’s decline in rankings. The March 2025 interim constitution centralizes power in the president and establishes Islamic jurisprudence as the main source of legislation.
“At this early post-Assad stage, political power remains fragmented and chaos prevails, leaving room for extremists and extremists to target Christians, resulting in increased pressure in other areas of Christian life outside of violence,” the report said.
Christians across the country are feeling the effects of HTS rule.
“The law marginally recognizes Baptists, evangelicals, and Pentecostals, who are under significant pressure due to public perceptions that they evangelize Muslims and are sympathetic to the West,” the report said. “Historic Orthodox churches are also not without risks due to their perceived ties to the previous regime.”
At the same time, the government is reforming education in accordance with Islamic ideology, erasing pre-Islamic history, eliminating female figures, and adopting interpretations of the Koran that describe Jews and Christians as “cursed and misguided,” for example.
worst 10
As in previous years, the three countries in which it was most difficult to become a Christian were North Korea, Somalia and Yemen. Sudan replaced Libya in fourth place, moving up to ninth place.
Eritrea moved from 6th to 5th place, while Nigeria remained unchanged from last year at 7th place. Pakistan remained in 8th place, while Iran moved up from 9th to 10th place, along with Libya in 9th place.
Rounding out the worst 15 were Afghanistan in 11th place, India in 12th place, Saudi Arabia in 13th place, Myanmar in 14th place, and Mali in 15th place.
After Syria, Tajikistan was the country with the steepest drop on the list, falling from 39th to 27th place. Nepal dropped from 54th to 46th place.
Nigeria remained the global epicenter of violence against Christians. Of the 4,849 Christians killed worldwide for their faith during the reporting period, 72 per cent, or 3,490, were Nigerians, up from 3,100 last year.
The report found that in the 50 worst countries, 315 million Christians face very high or extreme persecution and discrimination because of their faith.
The report notes that the government is employing new methods to go after Christians, including North Korea’s use of artificial intelligence to identify patterns of suspicious behavior that could indicate someone is Christian.
“Yet, amazingly, the Christian church continues to grow despite similarly impossible circumstances,” the report said.
Of note among the countries that showed improvement, Sri Lanka moved out of the worst 50 to 65th place, an improvement of four points and four places from 61st place the previous year, as government improvements reduced discrimination and improved access to justice.
sub-saharan africa
The sharp increase in violence against Christians in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade continued during this period, with only three countries experiencing the largest numbers.
The violence score, all from Sudan, Nigeria and Mali, was 16.7.
Since 2016, the total violence score for sub-Saharan African countries has increased from 98.71 (12 countries) to 206.12 (14 countries) in this year’s report. During this period, the area’s average violence score increased from 8.2 to 14.7.
“Nigeria’s violence score has been at its highest for eight consecutive years, and nine of the past 11 years,” the report said. “Every year, thousands of Nigerian Christians are killed for their faith.”
The report cites ethno-religious hostilities, Islamic extremism, weak governance, and organized crime as the main drivers of persecution in Nigeria.
“In June 2025, a four-hour attack by Muslim Fulani militants on a Christian farming community in Yerwata, Benue State left 258 people, mostly women and children, shot or burnt to death,” the report said.
The African Religious Freedom Observatory noted that Nigeria is suffering from a concentration of threats from existing and emerging Islamic terrorist groups, including a resurgence of attacks by Fulani militias in the Middle Belt. In the northwest, the Islamic extremist group Raqlawa uses sophisticated weaponry to promote radical Islamic policies aligned with the expansionist al-Qaeda rebel group Jamaah Nusrat ul-Islam al-Muslim.
“In 2025, reports have surfaced that a new group, Mahmuda, allegedly linked to the Islamic State group, is attacking rural areas in the west,” the report said. “The Observatory has reported that the Ansaru terrorist group has begun operating in Kogi state, between Nigeria’s capital Abuja and the predominantly Christian south.”
In the northeast, Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)
They have launched attacks on military facilities and have shown improved tactical capabilities, and the Observatory said that “their ability to challenge the Nigerian military directly represents a significant change in the security landscape.”
Among the approximately 3.4 million Nigerians still internally displaced, Christians in camps in the northeast report facing discrimination in the distribution of aid.
Other categories of persecution are also increasing in the sub-Saharan region. The combined score for 14 sub-Saharan countries increased by 19 points from the previous year, with more than half of that increase coming from
Pressures on Christians in “national life”: the interaction between Christians and their country as determined by rights and laws, the judicial system, state administration, and public life.
“The large score increases in this category are almost entirely due to
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and to a lesser extent;
Sudan,” the report states.
In Sudan, Christians are caught between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), each trying to win support from the Muslim majority.
“Hundreds of churches in Khartoum and surrounding areas were damaged, religious gatherings were disrupted, and faith leaders were detained,” the report said. “Christians face widespread discrimination in education, employment, and access to justice. Christians in Sudan are targeted in conflict zones such as the Nuba Mountains, the Darfur region, and the Blue Nile region.”
In Somalia, the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab has revived, taking advantage of divisions and tensions between the central government and regional states.
“All registered churches have been closed or destroyed,” the report states. “Converts from Islam are viewed as traitors to their clan and identity, often leading to community-driven violence, including public executions as a warning to others.”
The survival of Christians depends on complete secrecy, limited to their most private inner lives, the report says.
“Parents face an impossible dilemma: If they do not hide their faith and protect their children, they risk losing them to indoctrination or retaliation,” the report said. “The only country more hostile to Christians is North Korea.”
Burkino Faso, which deteriorated from 20th place the previous year to 16th place, reached near its highest violence score, reaching a record high overall score of 80 points, the report said.
“Unchecked by state power, jihadists infiltrate regional economies and traffic in arms, minerals, and people. Accountability is lost in a fog of bribery and collusion among authorities, security forces, and business networks,” the report said.
Christians in Burkina Faso are frequently targeted for extortion, kidnapping, and financial gain, and churches are subject to raids and taxation.
“As in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, the strongest sources of persecution were the repression of Islam and systemic corruption and crime,” the report said.
China
China’s WWL score rose to an all-time high of 79 points, but it wasn’t because of violence. The rise in the national living sector was the cause of the decline.
In September, the Chinese government, ranked 17th (up from 15th in the previous year), announced “Regulations on Online Behavior of Religious Clergy.” The regulation is a list of 18 rules that require religious leaders to, among other things, support the Chinese Communist Party, “teach religion to adapt to socialist society” and preach only on authorized websites.
“Rules prohibit the use of ‘attention-seeking religious topics or content’ or outreach to young people,” the report said. “Fundraising is prohibited. Live video on social media apps is prohibited. Distribution of Bible apps and religious publications is prohibited. Talk of ‘healing’ is also prohibited.” These regulations are enforced in a strict and uniform manner, making it increasingly difficult for the church to avoid conforming to the official ideology of communism. ”
The 2025 Online Rules align with regulations in place since 2018 governing internet use, social media, non-governmental organizations, and religious institutions.
