By Lisa Navarrette, ICC Fellow 

In 2025, Christian persecution continues to be a sobering reality for millions across the globe. However, despite widespread awareness and advocacy, accurately measuring this persecution remains a persistent challenge. One key reason is that persecution, unlike martyrdom, often unfolds in ways that are hidden, systemic, and difficult to quantify. 

Statistics from the Open Doors World Watch List 2025 show a paradox. On the one hand, more than 380 million Christians are facing high levels of persecution and discrimination — an increase from previous years. On the other hand, the number of Christians killed for their faith has decreased, dropping from 4,998 in the 2024 reporting period to 4,476 in 2025.(1)  

While this reduction in killings may seem like a sign of progress, it masks a deeper, more complex reality. Death is only the most visible and extreme form of persecution. To focus solely on fatalities is to overlook the many silent and persistent ways in which Christians are targeted, harassed, and marginalized. From imprisonment and forced displacement to digital surveillance and social ostracization, the current wave of persecution is increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect using traditional metrics. 

Death tolls have long been the go-to metric in discussions of religious persecution. They are tragic, stark, and emotionally compelling. However, relying solely on these figures distorts the broader picture. For example, Nigeria remains one of the deadliest countries for Christians, but even there, the number of killings has decreased from the previous year. Does this mean Christians in Nigeria are safer? Not necessarily. Open Doors and other organizations like International Christian Concern (ICC) emphasize that persecution is becoming more subtle and structural. It’s shifting away from overt acts of violence and toward indirect or bureaucratic suppression. Governments in several countries are leveraging policies, propaganda, and technology to make life increasingly difficult for Christians without necessarily resorting to murder.(2)

Many forms of persecution don’t result in death, but can destroy lives nonetheless. For example: 

• Detention without trial: In countries like Eritrea, Iran, and China, Christians — especially those worshiping in house churches — are arrested arbitrarily and detained for months or years without due process. 
• Attacks on property: Thousands of churches, homes, and Christian-run schools are vandalized or destroyed each year, particularly in conflict zones like the Middle East and parts of Africa. 
• Forced displacement: In regions such as Myanmar, northern Nigeria, and parts of India, Christians are forced to flee their homes due to violence or mob pressure, leading to mass internal displacement and refugee crises. 
• Surveillance and digital targeting: Authoritarian states are increasingly using technology to monitor Christian leaders and confessors of the faith, restrict online religious content, and shut down virtual gatherings. 
• Social discrimination: In many parts of the world, being Christian can mean denial of jobs, exclusion from public education, harassment by neighbors, or rejection from one’s family or community. 

These forms of persecution are qualitatively severe, but much harder to quantify. There is no unified global system to track arbitrary arrests, church demolitions, or denied job opportunities based on religion. Even when data is available, it is often incomplete or politically contested. 

Another reason why Christian persecution is hard to quantify is that it’s not evenly distributed. According to the World Watch List 2025, while Nigeria’s Christian death toll has dropped slightly, killings in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burkina Faso have increased. This regional redistribution makes it challenging to interpret global trends without closer local analysis. Moreover, many governments either deny the existence of persecution or actively suppress reports about it. In places like North Korea or Afghanistan, the full extent of the church’s suffering is unknown because transparency is nonexistent. Survivors often remain silent out of fear, and international journalists have little access to them. 

Another dimension often missed in persecution statistics is the psychological and emotional toll on Christians. Fear of surveillance, threats of violence, and repeated harassment create a culture of trauma that persists even when physical safety is not immediately threatened. 

Children growing up in these environments often internalize fear and isolation. Christian women face unique challenges, including gender-based violence, forced marriages, and sexual abuse — acts that are usually culturally stigmatized and go unreported. These experiences, while not fatal, leave lifelong scars and profoundly affect the fabric of Christian communities. 

One of the most notable trends in 2025 is the use of technology as a tool of persecution. While digital platforms have enabled underground churches to communicate and share Scripture, they have also become surveillance tools for hostile governments. In China, for example, facial recognition cameras have been installed in churches, and religious apps are being censored or removed entirely. Social media is also weaponized to target Christians, especially converts from Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism. Online mobs coordinate attacks, spread hate speech, and sometimes dox individuals, exposing them to real-world danger. 

The fact that deaths have decreased does not mean persecution is diminishing. In fact, the scope of persecution is expanding. Authoritarian regimes are becoming more efficient at controlling dissent. Nationalist movements are weaponizing religious identity. Technology allows for transnational repression — a phenomenon where regimes persecute dissidents and religious minorities even outside their borders. Because persecution is now more often chronic than catastrophic, the global church must develop better ways to measure suffering. Advocates call for improved data on imprisonment rates, legal discrimination, hate crimes, and even economic marginalization. 

Understanding Christian persecution today requires a shift in how we define and document it. Martyrdom is the most extreme outcome, but it is not the only — or even the most common — form of religious oppression. What makes persecution so devastating is not just how Christians die, but how they are forced to live: in fear, in exile, in silence. Christian advocacy organizations, faith leaders, and policymakers must broaden their lens. By doing so, they can better address the root causes of suffering, not just its fatal consequences. 

In 2025, the persecution of Christians is not simply a matter of counting the dead. It is about understanding the entire ecosystem of repression, encompassing legal, digital, cultural, and psychological aspects. While the martyr’s blood still speaks, the whispered prayers of the oppressed, the silent tears of the displaced, and the censored voices of the faithful speak too. The global church must listen to them. The world must learn to see persecution not only in the graves it leaves behind, but in the chains, the ash, the silence, and the fear that never make the headlines. 

References 

1. https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/?cmplz-force-reload=1750096181730
2. https://www.persecution.org/reports/ 

To read more stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.