What international organizations track religious persecution statistics by faith and what do their latest reports show?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Several U.S. government and civil-society bodies publish systematic country-level reporting on religious freedom: the U.S. Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Reports, the independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and academic and NGO projects such as Pew Research Center; faith-based charities and advocacy groups publish faith-specific indices—most prominently Open Doors’ World Watch List and multiple Christian aid groups (ACN, ICC, Global Christian Relief) that quantify persecution of Christians (Open Doors reports 380 million Christians affected in 2024 / 310 million facing “very high or extreme” levels in its top-50 summary) [1] [2] [3]. These sources differ in methods, scope and purpose: State and USCIRF aim for broad country reporting and policy recommendations [1] [4]; Open Doors, ICC, ACN and allied charities produce faith-specific rankings and incident tallies with advocacy goals [2] [5] [6].
1. Who the trackers are — government, independent commission, academia, and faith NGOs
The U.S. Department of State publishes an annual International Religious Freedom Report that surveys conditions in nearly every country and is intended for Congress and diplomacy [1]. USCIRF, a bipartisan federal commission established by Congress, issues an independent annual report that documents abuses and issues policy recommendations, including Country of Particular Concern (CPC) nominations [4]. Pew Research Center compiles cross‑national data on restrictions and social hostilities as a scholarly resource [7]. Faith-based organizations such as Open Doors, International Christian Concern (ICC), Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Global Christian Relief and related projects publish faith‑specific indices and incident databases focused mainly on Christian communities [3] [5] [6] [8].
2. What the latest reports say — headline numbers and geographic patterns
Open Doors’ World Watch List headlines that hundreds of millions of Christians experience high levels of pressure or violence—reports cite 380 million Christians affected in 2024 and say 310 million in the top‑50 countries face “very high or extreme” persecution in their summary products [2] [3]. ICC’s Global Persecution Index emphasizes worsening government hostility in specific contexts (e.g., Nicaragua) and rising religious nationalism and authoritarian drivers [5]. ACN’s 2025 Religious Freedom Report places more than 5 billion people living in countries with serious violations of religious freedom, identifying 24 countries that “suffer persecution” and 38 that “face discrimination” [9] [6]. USCIRF’s 2025 Annual Report continues its country recommendations and warned of escalating threats while urging U.S. policy responses [4].
3. How their methods differ — what you’re actually comparing
State Department reports are country surveys drawing on U.S. missions, multilateral sources and NGOs and are designed for diplomatic and legal use [1]. USCIRF issues independent, policy‑oriented findings and recommends CPC and Special Watch listings; its recommendations sometimes exceed State designations [4] [10]. Open Doors and allied Christian organizations use bespoke scoring, incident databases and counting of violence against Christian communities (including killings, arrests, destroyed churches) to rank countries where Christians face the most extreme threats [3] [11]. Pew’s approach measures government restrictions and social hostilities across religions with standard coding for cross‑national comparison [7]. These methodological differences produce non‑identical lists and numbers; they are not interchangeable [1] [2] [7].
4. What to watch in interpretation — biases, aims, and blind spots
Faith‑based trackers focus on one community and frame findings to mobilize supporters and aid—Open Doors and ACN explicitly aim to support Christians and to inspire advocacy and prayer, which shapes selection and presentation of incidents [3] [6]. USCIRF and the State Department operate within U.S. policy ecosystems and use their findings to press for designations and diplomatic steps; USCIRF’s recommendations are sometimes broader than State’s designations [4] [10]. Pew’s secular academic framing yields cross‑religion comparability but less incident-level granularity [7]. Available sources do not mention unified, global statistics that equitably quantify persecution by every faith on the same methodological footing — each tracker’s scope and purpose shapes what it measures (not found in current reporting).
5. Competing narratives and what they mean for policy and reporting
Open Doors and allied Christian groups report growing numbers and intensifying violence against Christians in many countries, and they publish country rankings to galvanize action [2] [12]. USCIRF frames threats as part of rising authoritarianism, transnational repression and religious nationalism and pushes for U.S. designations [4] [10]. The State Department produces comprehensive country narratives designed to inform diplomacy [1]. These different framings can produce policy tensions—advocates push for CPC listings while the State Department weighs diplomatic consequences [4] [10].
6. Bottom line for readers and journalists
Use these sources together, not interchangeably: State and USCIRF provide country‑level policy context [1] [4]; Pew helps compare restrictions across faiths [7]; Open Doors, ICC and ACN provide incident detail and advocate for particular communities [3] [5] [6]. When citing headline numbers, note the publisher and method because each report answers a different question and carries an institutional agenda [2] [4].