Data for 2012

Academic Freedom Index, 2012

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2012
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2012, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2012 covers 176 countries. Poland is highest, at 0.978; North Korea is lowest, at 0.012. The middle country reads 0.734. Against 2011, 77 values changed (32 up, 45 down), the same countries are covered.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2012

HighestPoland

0.978

LowestNorth Korea

0.012

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

176countries
1measure
2012the year it describes
150distinct 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, 2012, 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 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Academic Freedom Index, 2012: 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	0.967
=5	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.964
=5	Chile`CHL`South America	0.964
=5	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.964
8	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.962
9	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.961
10	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.960
11	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.959
12	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.956
=13	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.951
=13	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.951
=15	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.949
=15	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.949
17	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.947
18	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.946
=19	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.945
=19	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.945
21	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.944
22	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.938
23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.936
24	Peru`PER`South America	0.931
25	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.930
26	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.929
27	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.926
=28	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.922
=28	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.922
=30	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.921
=30	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.921
=30	United States`USA`Northern America	0.921
33	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.918
34	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.917
35	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.915
36	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.914
=37	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.913
=37	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.913
39	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.904
40	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.899
41	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.896
42	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.895
=43	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.893
=43	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.893
45	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.890
=46	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.880
=46	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.880
48	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.879
49	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.874
=50	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.868
=50	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.868
=52	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.865
=52	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.865
54	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.863
55	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.861
56	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.860
=57	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.859
=57	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.859
59	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.856
=60	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.855
=60	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.855
62	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.854
63	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.840
64	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.839
65	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.838
66	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.831
67	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.825
=68	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.824
=68	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.824
70	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.823
71	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.816
72	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.815
73	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.814
74	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.807
=75	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.805
=75	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.805
77	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.790
78	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.788
79	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.774
80	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.760
81	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.757
82	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.749
83	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.748
84	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.746
85	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.744
86	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.741
87	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.735
88	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.734
89	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.733
90	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.732
91	Colombia`COL`South America	0.725
92	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.724
=93	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.722
=93	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.722
95	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.714
96	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.702
=97	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.701
=97	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.701
99	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.699
100	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.692
=101	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.689
=101	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.689
103	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.683
104	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.680
105	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.664
106	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.663
=107	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.649
=107	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.649
109	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.647
110	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.639
111	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.629
112	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.627
113	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.612
114	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.610
115	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.602
116	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.578
117	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.552
118	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.525
119	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.512
120	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.510
121	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.503
122	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.491
123	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.484
124	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.480
125	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.479
126	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.475
127	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.460
128	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.455
129	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.452
130	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.439
131	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.436
132	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.427
133	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.408
134	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.399
135	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.389
136	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.388
137	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.383
138	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.381
=139	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.374
=139	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.374
141	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.372
142	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.370
143	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.362
144	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.339
145	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.334
146	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.328
147	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.321
148	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.311
149	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.298
150	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.287
151	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.277
152	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.247
153	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.206
=154	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.204
=154	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.204
156	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.188
157	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.182
158	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.175
=159	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.169
=159	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.169
161	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.161
162	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.113
163	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.106
164	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.096
165	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.095
166	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.077
=167	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.064
=167	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.064
169	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.059
170	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.058
171	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.042
172	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.041
173	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.039
=174	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.018
=174	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.018
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.012

02In 2012

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Poland0.978
2Estonia0.974
3Austria0.972
4Portugal0.967
5Belgiumshared0.964

Lowest

176North Korea0.012
174Turkmenistanshared0.018
174Eritreashared0.018
173Syria0.039
172Uzbekistan0.041

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.734. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032011 → 2012

Since 2011

What changed between 2011 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
77values changed, of 176 in both
32 · 45rose · fell
99unchanged

Rose most

Libya0.276 → 0.480+0.204
Tunisia0.565 → 0.744+0.179
Somalia0.291 → 0.452+0.161
Myanmar0.223 → 0.298+0.075
Madagascar0.710 → 0.774+0.064

Fell most

Maldives0.479 → 0.372−0.107
Russia0.550 → 0.475−0.075
Egypt0.389 → 0.321−0.068
Hong Kong0.763 → 0.701−0.062
China0.233 → 0.188−0.045

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 2012.
150 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.964. 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 176 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
176 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download academic-freedom-2012-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 (2012). Academic Freedom Index, 2012 [data set], describing 2012. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2012

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2011
176 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 2013
176 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