6/13/2025 Middle East (International Christian Concern) — Pew Research released data from more than 2,700 census reports, surveys, and population records across the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region, showing that the Christian population is shrinking due to religious conversion and disaffiliation.  

As of 2020, 94% of people in the MENA region are Muslim, with Christianity being the largest minority group at about 3% of the population. The percentage of Christians in this region has shrunk from 3.3% in 2010 to 2.9% in 2020, mainly due to religious conversion or disaffiliation.  

In many of the countries where this religious data was collected, Christians are heavily persecuted and could be jailed or killed for their faith, with many MENA countries being in the Top 10 worst persecutors on Open Doors’ World Watch List, causing some to question the effect that persecution has on religious disaffiliation.   

Fatemeh, a believer in Iran, said this regarding being a Christian in this region:  

“They were tearing us apart, one by one,” she said. “Every time we heard the doorbell, we feared it was the police. We still can’t forget the day when the police raided our house church, took some of us away, and forced the rest to sign a paper confessing we would never meet or engage in Christian activities again.” 

In this region, the Muslim population grew by 414 million people, and globally, Christianity is losing 11.6 adults of every 100 to religious conversion or disaffiliation, compared to one out of every 100 Muslims. Despite persecution and a shrinking Christian population, the believers in this region are determined to stand for Christ.  

One believer, who is a regional director of the Middle East for SIM said this regarding the growth in the region: “As I speak with church and ministry leaders in the Middle East, many say that 15 years ago, they could never have imagined the sort of openness and growth that we’re seeing now,” said a regional director of the Middle East for SIM, a missions organization. “There are huge challenges, but there are also great opportunities.” 

With believers continuing to stand for their faith, the hope is that the percentage of Christians in this region will grow in the next 10 years as the gospel advances despite persecution.  

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