Data for 2008

Academic Freedom Index, 2008

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2008
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2008, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2008 covers 173 countries. Poland is highest, at 0.978; North Korea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.728. Against 2007, 55 values changed (32 up, 23 down), the same countries are covered.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2008

HighestPoland

0.978

LowestNorth Korea

0.010

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

173countries
1measure
2008the year it describes
146distinct 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, 2008, 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 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Academic Freedom Index, 2008: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.978
2	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.974
3	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.972
4	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.969
5	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.964
6	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.963
=7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.962
=7	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.962
9	Chile`CHL`South America	0.961
=10	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.959
=10	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.959
12	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.958
13	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.956
14	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.951
=15	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.950
=15	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.950
17	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.947
=18	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.946
=18	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.946
=20	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.945
=20	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.945
=22	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.938
=22	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.938
24	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.937
25	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.935
=26	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.930
=26	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.930
28	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.924
29	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.923
=30	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.922
=30	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.922
=30	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.922
=33	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.920
=33	United States`USA`Northern America	0.920
35	Peru`PER`South America	0.919
=36	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.915
=36	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.915
=36	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.915
39	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.913
40	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.910
41	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.908
42	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.904
43	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.900
44	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.899
=45	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.893
=45	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.893
47	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.891
48	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.890
=49	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.880
=49	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.880
51	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.874
52	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.870
53	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.867
54	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.866
55	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.860
56	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.859
57	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.858
58	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.856
59	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.853
60	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.852
61	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.849
=62	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.848
=62	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.848
64	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.844
65	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.842
66	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.841
67	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.839
=68	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.831
=68	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.831
70	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.830
71	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.821
72	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.810
73	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.807
74	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.805
75	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.801
76	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.792
77	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.790
78	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.786
79	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.757
80	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.756
81	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.753
82	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.751
83	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.745
84	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.733
=85	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.730
=85	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.730
=87	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.728
=87	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.728
=87	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.728
=87	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.728
=87	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.728
92	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.723
93	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.722
94	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.719
95	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.712
96	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.688
97	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.685
=98	Colombia`COL`South America	0.683
=98	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.683
100	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.681
=101	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.664
=101	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.664
103	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.658
=104	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.652
=104	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.652
=104	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.652
107	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.647
108	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.639
109	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.628
110	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.622
111	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.612
112	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.611
113	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.605
114	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.582
115	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.565
116	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.550
117	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.530
118	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.529
119	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.526
120	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.503
121	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.500
122	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.488
123	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.475
124	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.472
125	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.459
126	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.455
127	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.435
128	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.429
129	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.426
130	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.412
131	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.394
132	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.389
133	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.386
=134	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.382
=134	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.382
136	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.359
137	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.354
138	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.347
139	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.344
140	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.337
141	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.318
142	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.311
143	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.284
144	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.280
145	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.276
146	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.273
147	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.236
148	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.232
149	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.230
150	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.217
151	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.210
=152	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.209
=152	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.209
154	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.189
155	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.184
156	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.177
157	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.169
158	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.131
159	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.130
160	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.107
161	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.100
162	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.099
163	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.081
164	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.079
165	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.075
166	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.068
167	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.050
168	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.042
169	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.039
170	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.031
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.026
172	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.018
173	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.010

02In 2008

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Poland0.978
2Estonia0.974
3Austria0.972
4Portugal0.969
5Belgium0.964

Lowest

173North Korea0.010
172Eritrea0.018
171Turkmenistan0.026
170Myanmar0.031
169Laos0.039

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.728. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

What changed between 2007 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
55values changed, of 173 in both
32 · 23rose · fell
118unchanged

Rose most

Thailand0.255 → 0.412+0.157
Ukraine0.721 → 0.757+0.036
Bhutan0.356 → 0.386+0.030
Colombia0.655 → 0.683+0.028
Malaysia0.402 → 0.429+0.027

Fell most

Armenia0.658 → 0.582−0.076
South Korea0.853 → 0.790−0.063
Russia0.683 → 0.639−0.044
Botswana0.878 → 0.849−0.029
Mauritania0.367 → 0.354−0.013

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 2008.
146 distinct values among 173
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 5 countries share 0.728. 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 173 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
173 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-2008-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 (2008). Academic Freedom Index, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2008

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2007
173 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 2009
174 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