It has never been more dangerous to be a Christian than today. According to the newly released 2024 World Watch List – an authoritative survey by Open Doors, an organisation that supports persecuted Christians – 365 million Christians, or one in seven, are at high or extreme risk of persecution every day because of their faith.

In 2007, British intelligence agency MI6 reported that 200 million Christians were in daily danger. That number has almost doubled.

Open Doors says physical attacks on Christians have risen almost 370 per cent in the past year.

North Korea tops the list as it has every year, bar one, since 2002, and Hindu-majority India – which has accelerated up the list in recent years – comes in 11th. Buddhist-majority Myanmar is 17th, China is 19th, and the rest of the top 20 are all Muslim-majority nations.

Here are the 20 most dangerous nations to be a Christian, in order: North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Mali, Algeria, Iraq, Myanmar, Maldives, China and Burkina Faso.

Open Doors defines persecution not just as violence or imprisonment, but any hostility experienced because of one’s identification. It can look different in every country, from rejection and isolation to being denied access to basic needs such as water, food, and healthcare. The danger may come from governments, or from extremists who act with impunity.

The charity reports a sevenfold increase in attacks on Christian churches, schools and hospitals in the past year, while physical attacks on Christians rose almost 370 per cent.

North Korea is the most dangerous country in the world for Christians.Credit: KCNA

It irks me when some Western Christians claim they are persecuted – and religious freedom will be a big domestic issue this year – because it trivialises serious persecution.

Christians in Western democracies do face increased opposition, but they do not risk being tortured, murdered or dragged into the street and beaten while their houses are burnt to the ground. Nor is Islamophobia in the West, though certainly real, in any way comparable.