Christian communities are continuing to expand in some of the world’s most dangerous environments even as an estimated 380 million believers experience persecution each year because of their faith, according to a new report from U.S.-based watchdog International Christian Concern.
ICC’s “Global Persecution Index 2026” found that churches are gaining members in countries where religious activity can result in arrest, imprisonment or death. The report points to underground congregations and digital networks that allow Christians to worship beyond direct government control.
Iran stands out as one of the clearest examples, according to ICC. The report describes the country’s house church movement as one of the fastest-growing in the world, supported by secret networks and online evangelism despite the arrest, imprisonment and, in some cases, execution of converts from Islam under blasphemy and national security laws.
Chinese Christians are also gathering in private homes and through encrypted online meetings despite extensive government surveillance.
ICC warned, however, that this growth is occurring alongside the spread of religious nationalism, which the organization identifies as a major factor in the decline of religious freedom.
In India, militant Hindu organizations associated with the governing Bharatiya Janata Party have attacked Christian and Muslim minorities, while several state governments have enacted laws restricting religious conversion.
Anti-conversion laws are now enforced in 13 of India’s 28 states, according to the report. ICC noted that courts have not convicted a Christian of forcing someone to convert, but believers are often “harassed and jailed on the mere suspicion of wrongdoing.”
During the year ending in July 2025, ICC recorded more than 1,100 Christians displaced from their homes in India and 276 reported cases of physical or psychological abuse.
“Yet amid repression, faith continues to grow. Reports from underground networks in India and Pakistan indicate steady increases in conversions and discipleship,” researchers wrote.
In North Korea, small underground Christian networks operate “entirely in darkness,” the report said, while continuing to worship, broadcast Christian radio programs and smuggle religious materials into the country.
“North Korea remains among the hardest persecutors of Christians and religious life in the world,” the report reads. “The Kim regime operates a zero-tolerance policy against any belief system outside state ideology, viewing Christianity not as a faith but as a dangerous external subversion. Nonetheless, the clandestine church persists.”
Nearly half of all terrorism-related deaths now occur in Africa, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. Groups including Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province and al-Shabab remain active across Nigeria, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and Mozambique.
ICC documented more than 500 Christians killed and nearly 500 attacks on churches in Nigeria during the year ending in July 2025. Despite the violence, congregations continued rebuilding burned church buildings and holding worship services.
The U.S. government designated Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern on Oct. 31, 2025, a classification used by the State Department for governments considered responsible for severe religious freedom violations.
Similar restrictions were documented in Latin America. Nicaragua’s government has imprisoned priests, expelled bishops and shut down church-run universities, while Cuban authorities determine which congregations are permitted to operate legally.
The United Kingdom-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide recorded 1,898 government actions against religious communities in Cuba in 2024, according to the report.
In Eritrea, authorities detain Christians in shipping containers and secret prisons, ICC said. At least eight believers have reportedly remained imprisoned for between 18 and 21 years solely for practicing their faith.
ICC’s index examines 22 countries, 13 of which have been designated Countries of Particular Concern.
