Observed and predicted number counts in the 8–24 keV band. (a) Left: Redshift range z < 0.05. The BAT 70-month survey number counts are plotted (red shaded diagram) together with the predictions of our luminosity function (shaded curve). The NuSTAR number counts are shown with the green diagram. (b) Right: Redshift range z < 0.07. The green shaded diagram corresponds to the NuSTAR number counts. The predictions of our luminosity function are depicted with the shaded curve. The red dotted line denotes the predictions of the X-ray background synthesis model of Ananna et al. (2019) in the 10²⁴ − 10²⁶ cm⁻² column density range.