Data for 1998

Academic Freedom Index, 1998

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 1998
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1998, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 1998 covers 169 countries. Estonia is highest, at 0.974; North Korea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.688. Against 1997, 41 values changed (28 up, 13 down), 1 country joined.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 1998

HighestEstonia

0.974

LowestNorth Korea

0.010

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

169countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
153distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Academic Freedom Index, 1998, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 169 countries · select a heading to sort

Academic Freedom Index, 1998: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.974
2	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.967
3	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.966
4	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.965
5	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.964
6	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.962
7	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.960
=8	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.956
=8	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.956
10	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.954
=11	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.951
=11	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.951
13	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.947
14	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.946
=15	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.945
=15	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.945
17	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.944
18	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.939
19	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.936
20	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.933
21	Chile`CHL`South America	0.929
=22	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.926
=22	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.926
24	United States`USA`Northern America	0.924
25	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.923
=26	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.922
=26	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.922
28	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.920
29	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.919
30	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.917
=31	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.915
=31	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.915
33	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.913
=34	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.910
=34	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.910
36	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.907
37	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.904
38	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.900
39	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.899
40	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.893
41	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.891
42	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.885
43	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.880
44	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.879
45	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.878
=46	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.875
=46	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.875
48	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.874
49	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.872
50	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.870
51	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.865
=52	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.860
=52	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.860
=54	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.858
=54	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.858
56	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.856
57	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.843
58	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.830
59	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.825
60	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.824
61	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.823
62	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.819
63	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.814
64	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.812
65	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.802
66	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.796
67	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.790
68	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.789
69	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.784
70	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.779
71	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.770
72	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.765
73	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.752
74	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.745
75	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.743
76	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.742
77	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.740
=78	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.730
=78	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.730
=78	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.730
81	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.718
82	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.712
83	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.697
84	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.689
=85	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.688
=85	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.688
=85	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.688
88	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.687
89	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.683
90	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.682
91	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.681
92	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.680
93	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.645
94	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.642
95	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.636
96	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.635
97	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.633
98	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.615
99	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.612
100	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.611
101	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.607
102	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.602
103	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.595
104	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.590
105	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.572
106	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.567
107	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.566
108	Colombia`COL`South America	0.540
109	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.531
110	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.523
111	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.515
112	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.514
=113	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.479
=113	Peru`PER`South America	0.479
115	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.473
116	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.467
117	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.450
118	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.425
119	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.424
120	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.418
121	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.391
122	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.387
123	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.385
124	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.380
125	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.355
126	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.354
127	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.350
128	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.334
129	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.321
130	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.313
131	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.308
132	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.298
133	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.295
134	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.293
135	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.284
136	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.280
137	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.278
138	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.263
=139	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.258
=139	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.258
141	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.252
142	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.216
143	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.212
144	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.208
145	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.187
146	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.186
147	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.178
148	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.173
149	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.166
150	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.160
151	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.155
152	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.148
153	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.132
154	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.121
155	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.112
156	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.095
157	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.081
158	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.069
159	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.065
160	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.062
161	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.058
162	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.048
163	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.046
164	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.036
165	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.032
166	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.028
167	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.023
168	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.014
169	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.010

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Estonia0.974
2Italy0.967
3Denmark0.966
4Austria0.965
5Belgium0.964

Lowest

169North Korea0.010
168Turkmenistan0.014
167Myanmar0.023
166Laos0.028
165Syria0.032

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.688. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
41values changed, of 168 in both
28 · 13rose · fell
127unchanged

Rose most

Indonesia0.214 → 0.424+0.210
Kenya0.362 → 0.425+0.063
South Korea0.771 → 0.830+0.059
Armenia0.628 → 0.681+0.053
Nigeria0.668 → 0.712+0.044

Fell most

Republic of the Congo0.553 → 0.391−0.162
India0.682 → 0.612−0.070
Zimbabwe0.206 → 0.148−0.058
Serbia0.497 → 0.473−0.024
Belarus0.325 → 0.308−0.017

+ Montenegro

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1998.
153 distinct values among 169
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.730. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 169 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
169 rows · 4.6 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download academic-freedom-1998-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (1998). Academic Freedom Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/1998

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 1997
168 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 1999
170 countries
All of them
Academic Freedom Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions