A new report has found that only 3 per cent of Christian missionaries focus on "unreached" people groups.

According to 2021 Gallup polling, of the roughly 7.7 billion people around the world, more than 3 billion are considered either unreached or least reached. 

Of those, approximately 7,000 people groups have been categorized as unreached, which means less than 2 per cent identify as Evangelical Christians and less than 5 per cent identify as someone who claims any form of the Christian religion.

Unreached people group (UPG) resources indicate that at least 2 per cent of a population is needed to reach an entire group.

In all, the unreached of the world comprise nearly 42 per cent of the global population, according to the global evangelism ministry East-West.

John Maisel, founder of East-West, says God ultimately gets the glory when His people willingly take risks for the Gospel.

He wrote in a blog post: "God's greatest delight is when His children choose by faith to get out of the safety of the boat to meet Him and follow His leading,"

There are many factors why these groups are unreached, these might include physical, political and cultural barriers.

Islam, Hinduism and other religions typically dominate in most countries where UPGs live, while other cultures tend to disapprove of conversion to Christianity or other religions.