Data for 2003

Academic Freedom Index, 2003

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2003
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2003, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2003 covers 172 countries. Poland is highest, at 0.977; North Korea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.730. Against 2002, 36 values changed (23 up, 13 down), 2 countries joined.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2003

HighestPoland

0.977

LowestNorth Korea

0.010

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

172countries
1measure
2003the year it describes
156distinct 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, 2003, 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 172 countries · select a heading to sort

Academic Freedom Index, 2003: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.977
2	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.974
=3	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.969
=3	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.969
5	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.967
6	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.964
7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.962
=8	Chile`CHL`South America	0.961
=8	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.961
10	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.959
11	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.956
12	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.955
13	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.951
=14	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.950
=14	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.950
16	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.947
17	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.946
=18	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.945
=18	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.945
20	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.941
21	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.939
22	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.938
23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.936
24	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.935
25	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.933
26	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.932
27	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.930
28	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.929
29	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.926
=30	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.925
=30	United States`USA`Northern America	0.925
32	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.924
33	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.923
=34	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.922
=34	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.922
=34	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.922
=37	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.915
=37	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.915
39	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.914
40	Peru`PER`South America	0.913
41	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.910
42	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.907
43	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.904
44	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.899
45	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.894
46	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.893
47	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.891
48	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.884
49	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.883
50	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.880
51	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.879
52	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.875
53	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.870
54	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.864
55	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.861
56	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.860
57	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.858
=58	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.856
=58	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.856
=58	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.856
=61	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.855
=61	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.855
63	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.853
=64	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.848
=64	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.848
66	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.846
67	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.839
68	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.831
69	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.829
70	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.825
71	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.820
72	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.806
73	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.805
74	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.801
75	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.792
76	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.757
77	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.750
78	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.748
=79	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.743
=79	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.743
81	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.742
82	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.741
83	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.735
84	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.733
=85	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.730
=85	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.730
87	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.729
88	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.727
89	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.714
90	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.712
91	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.708
92	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.706
93	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.700
94	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.697
95	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.688
96	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.683
97	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.675
98	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.669
99	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.664
100	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.663
101	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.659
102	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.656
103	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.643
104	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.641
105	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.624
=106	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.622
=106	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.622
108	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.621
109	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.618
110	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.616
111	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.611
112	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.607
113	Colombia`COL`South America	0.571
114	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.561
115	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.560
116	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.554
117	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.546
118	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.530
119	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.524
120	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.522
121	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.512
122	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.503
123	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.488
124	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.471
125	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.457
126	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.455
127	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.441
128	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.415
129	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.409
130	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.388
131	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.385
132	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.383
133	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.382
134	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.360
135	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.356
136	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.337
=137	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.330
=137	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.330
139	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.324
140	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.313
141	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.305
142	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.290
143	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.284
144	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.279
145	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.278
146	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.263
147	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.243
148	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.242
149	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.238
150	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.212
151	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.211
152	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.208
153	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.186
154	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.177
155	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.173
156	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.163
157	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.155
158	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.144
159	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.118
160	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.107
161	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.100
162	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.091
163	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.077
164	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.075
165	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.058
166	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.044
167	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.042
168	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.037
169	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.031
170	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.021
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.012
172	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.010

02In 2003

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Poland0.977
2Estonia0.974
3Austriashared0.969
3Portugalshared0.969
5Italy0.967

Lowest

172North Korea0.010
171Turkmenistan0.012
170Eritrea0.021
169Myanmar0.031
168Laos0.037

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.730. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032002 → 2003

Since 2002

What changed between 2002 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+2 / −0countries joined / left
36values changed, of 170 in both
23 · 13rose · fell
134unchanged

Rose most

Angola0.147 → 0.388+0.241
Iraq0.108 → 0.330+0.222
Sierra Leone0.766 → 0.848+0.082
Kenya0.755 → 0.831+0.076
Liberia0.381 → 0.441+0.060

Fell most

Haiti0.698 → 0.669−0.029
Denmark0.961 → 0.933−0.028
Armenia0.643 → 0.616−0.027
Venezuela0.561 → 0.546−0.015
Slovenia0.947 → 0.932−0.015

+ Bhutan

+ Comoros

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 2003.
156 distinct values among 172
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.922. 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 172 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
172 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-2003-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 (2003). Academic Freedom Index, 2003 [data set], describing 2003. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2003

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2002
170 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 2004
172 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