More than 360 million Christians are persecuted across 76 countries, according to the latest report. This number increased by some 20 million since last year, which means that, in the last thirty years, Christian persecution was the highest in 2021.

Open Doors lists the fifty countries that are most dangerous for Christians every year. In eleven out of these fifty countries, there is an extremely high level of persecution. In the remaining 39 countries, the level of Christian persecution is ranked as high.

In the whole world, one out of seven Christians is persecuted or discriminated against for their faith. In 2021,  a staggering 5,898 Christians were murdered. This represents a rise of 24 per cent compared to the previous year. Most of them, 4,650 people in all, died in Nigeria.

For years, North Korea has been on the top of the persecution list. However, this year, Afghanistan occupied the first place due to the Taliban taking over. In addition, the recent conflict in Afghanistan boosted other Jihadist and extremist groups in Asia and Africa.

On the most recent list, the offenders are mainly African and Asian, with three countries from the American continent. There is no European country among the 50 most dangerous places for Christians this year. 

You can see the 2022 list here.