Christianity is the third largest religion in Pakistan.^[1][3] According to the 2017 Census, the proportion of Christians in Pakistan was estimated as about 1.27% of the population.^[1] Of these, approximately half are Catholic and half Protestant. A small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians and Oriental Orthodox Christians also live in Pakistan.^[4][5][6][7]

Around 75 percent of Pakistan’s Christians are rural Punjabi Christians, with the remainder including more affluent Goan Christians and Anglo-Indians.^[8][9]

As Punjabi Christians are mainly Dalit Christians—descendants of lower-caste Hindus who converted during the colonial era in India—their dire socio-economic conditions facilitate religious discrimination; for example, it is estimated that Christians fill about 80% of the manual sewer cleaning jobs in the whole of Pakistan.^[10][11][12]