2026 World Watch List
More than 388 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith – that’s one in seven believers worldwide – according to Open Doors ministry, which serves the persecuted Church. These are the 50 most dangerous countries for Christ followers on the 2026 World Watch List (1-15 face “extreme” persecution levels while 16-50 are “very high”):
Extreme persecution
1 North Korea (last year: 1)
2 Somalia (2)
3 Yemen (3)
4 Sudan (5)
5 Eritrea (6)
6 Syria (18)
7 Nigeria (7)
8 Pakistan (8)
9 Libya (4)
10 Iran (9)
11 Afghanistan (10)
12 India (11)
13 Saudi Arabia (12)
14 Myanmar (13)
15 Mali (14)
Very high persecution
16 Burkina Faso (20)
17 China (15)
18 Iraq (17)
19 Maldives (16)
20 Algeria (19)
21 Mauritania (23)
22 Central African Republic (27)
23 Morocco (21)
24 Cuba (26)
25 Uzbekistan (25)
26 Niger (28)
27 Tajikistan (39)
28 Laos (22)
29 Democratic Republic of Congo (35)
30 Mexico (31)
31 Tunisia (34)
32 Nicaragua (30)
33 Bangladesh (24)
34 Bhutan (36)
35 Turkmenistan (29)
36 Ethiopia (33)
37 Cameroon (43)
38 Oman (32)
39 Mozambique (37)
40 Kyrgyzstan (47)
41 Turkey (45)
42 Egypt (40)
43 Comoros (42)
44 Qatar (41)
45 Kazakhstan (38)
46 Nepal (not ranked)
47 Colombia (46)
48 Chad (49)
49 Jordan (50)
50 Brunei (48)
CLICK HERE for more information about the World Watch List.
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