Data for 2004

Academic Freedom Index, 2004

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2004
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2004, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2004 covers 172 countries. Poland is highest, at 0.977; North Korea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.725. Against 2003, 42 values changed (22 up, 20 down), the same countries are covered.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2004

HighestPoland

0.977

LowestNorth Korea

0.010

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

172countries
1measure
2004the year it describes
149distinct 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, 2004, 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, 2004: 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	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.963
8	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.962
=9	Chile`CHL`South America	0.961
=9	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.961
11	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.959
12	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.956
13	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.951
=14	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.950
=14	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.950
16	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.949
17	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.947
18	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.946
=19	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.945
=19	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.945
21	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.939
22	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.938
23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.936
=24	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.933
=24	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.933
26	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.930
27	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.926
28	United States`USA`Northern America	0.925
29	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.924
30	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.923
=31	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.922
=31	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.922
33	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.921
=34	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.915
=34	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.915
=34	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.915
37	Peru`PER`South America	0.913
=38	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.910
=38	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.910
40	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.907
41	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.904
42	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.899
43	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.897
44	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.895
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	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.880
=49	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.880
51	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.879
52	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.870
53	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.861
54	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.860
55	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.858
=56	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.856
=56	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.856
=56	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.856
=59	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.855
=59	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.855
=61	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.853
=61	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.853
63	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.848
64	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.846
65	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.844
66	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.843
67	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.839
=68	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.831
=68	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.831
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	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.791
77	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.757
78	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.743
=79	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.742
=79	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.742
81	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.741
82	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.735
83	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.733
=84	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.730
=84	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.730
86	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.729
87	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.721
88	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.714
=89	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.712
=89	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.712
91	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.700
92	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.697
93	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.696
94	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.691
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	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.664
99	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.659
100	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.656
101	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.654
=102	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.652
=102	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.652
104	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.645
105	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.643
=106	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.627
=106	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.627
108	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.624
=109	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.622
=109	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.622
111	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.621
112	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.611
113	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.607
114	Colombia`COL`South America	0.584
115	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.574
116	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.559
=117	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.554
=117	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.554
=119	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.524
=119	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.524
121	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.522
122	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.512
123	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.503
124	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.488
125	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.471
126	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.465
127	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.457
128	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.455
129	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.415
130	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.411
131	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.409
132	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.402
133	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.387
134	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.382
135	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.360
136	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.359
137	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.356
138	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.337
139	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.324
140	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.323
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	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.242
148	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.238
149	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.236
150	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.214
151	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.212
152	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.211
153	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.206
154	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.186
155	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.177
156	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.163
157	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.155
158	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.139
159	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.118
160	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.107
161	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.106
162	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.080
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 2004

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 0.725. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032003 → 2004

Since 2003

What changed between 2003 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
42values changed, of 172 in both
22 · 20rose · fell
130unchanged

Rose most

Liberia0.441 → 0.627+0.186
Iraq0.330 → 0.465+0.135
Georgia0.750 → 0.791+0.041
Moldova0.618 → 0.654+0.036
Somalia0.173 → 0.206+0.033

Fell most

Netherlands0.941 → 0.880−0.061
Namibia0.743 → 0.696−0.047
Ukraine0.663 → 0.627−0.036
Serbia0.883 → 0.853−0.030
Venezuela0.546 → 0.524−0.022

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 2004.
149 distinct values among 172
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.915. 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-2004-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 (2004). Academic Freedom Index, 2004 [data set], describing 2004. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2004

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2003
172 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 2005
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