Data for 2015

Academic Freedom Index, 2015

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2015
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2015, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2015 covers 176 countries. 2 countries share the highest reading, 0.974; North Korea is lowest, at 0.012. The middle country reads 0.727. Against 2014, 90 values changed (31 up, 59 down), the same countries are covered.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2015

Highest2 countries share it

0.974

LowestNorth Korea

0.012

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

176countries
1measure
2015the year it describes
151distinct 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, 2015, 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, 2015: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
=1	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.974
=1	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.974
3	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.972
4	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.965
=5	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.964
=5	Chile`CHL`South America	0.964
7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.962
8	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.960
9	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.959
=10	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.956
=10	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.956
=12	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.954
=12	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.954
14	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.953
15	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.951
16	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.950
17	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.949
18	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.946
=19	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.944
=19	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.944
=21	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.939
=21	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.939
23	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.938
24	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.934
=25	Peru`PER`South America	0.926
=25	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.926
27	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.924
28	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.922
29	United States`USA`Northern America	0.921
30	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.920
31	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.917
32	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.914
=33	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.912
=33	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.912
=33	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.912
36	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.904
=37	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.899
=37	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.899
=39	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.897
=39	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.897
41	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.896
=42	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.893
=42	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.893
44	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.888
45	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.887
46	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.881
=47	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.880
=47	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.880
=49	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.877
=49	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.877
51	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.875
52	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.868
53	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.866
54	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.864
55	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.862
56	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.861
57	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.860
58	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.857
=59	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.855
=59	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.855
=59	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.855
62	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.850
63	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.848
64	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.837
65	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.835
66	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.833
67	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.831
68	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.830
69	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.828
70	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.827
71	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.819
72	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.812
73	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.808
74	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.807
75	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.806
76	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.803
77	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.800
=78	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.795
=78	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.795
80	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.782
81	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.771
82	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.768
83	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.758
84	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.744
85	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.742
86	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.739
=87	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.729
=87	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.729
89	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.725
90	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.724
91	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.717
92	Colombia`COL`South America	0.714
=93	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.696
=93	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.696
=95	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.688
=95	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.688
97	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.685
98	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.679
99	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.673
100	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.668
101	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.667
102	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.658
103	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.655
104	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.653
105	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.644
=106	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.639
=106	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.639
108	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.637
109	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.624
=110	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.622
=110	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.622
112	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.619
113	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.563
114	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.559
115	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.550
116	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.545
117	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.525
118	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.521
119	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.513
=120	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.479
=120	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.479
122	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.466
123	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.460
124	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.436
125	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.425
126	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.417
127	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.408
128	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.405
129	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.403
130	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.399
131	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.390
132	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.384
133	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.377
134	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.375
135	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.371
136	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.370
137	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.368
138	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.367
139	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.355
140	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.353
141	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.325
142	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.315
143	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.313
144	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.300
145	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.291
146	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.290
147	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.278
148	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.277
149	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.238
150	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.235
151	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.212
152	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.206
153	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.180
154	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.174
155	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.172
156	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.140
157	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.139
158	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.137
159	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.124
=160	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.118
=160	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.118
162	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.106
163	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.098
164	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.080
165	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.075
166	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.072
167	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.064
168	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.056
169	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.051
170	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.050
=171	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.047
=171	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.047
173	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.037
174	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.020
175	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.018
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.012

02In 2015

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Estoniashared0.974
1Polandshared0.974
3Austria0.972
4Latvia0.965
5Belgiumshared0.964

Lowest

176North Korea0.012
175Turkmenistan0.018
174Eritrea0.020
173Syria0.037
171Uzbekistanshared0.047

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.727. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032014 → 2015

Since 2014

What changed between 2014 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
90values changed, of 176 in both
31 · 59rose · fell
86unchanged

Rose most

Sri Lanka0.531 → 0.658+0.127
Guyana0.729 → 0.771+0.042
Myanmar0.321 → 0.355+0.034
Togo0.833 → 0.861+0.028
Fiji0.344 → 0.371+0.027

Fell most

Yemen0.383 → 0.290−0.093
Burundi0.196 → 0.137−0.059
Hong Kong0.603 → 0.545−0.058
North Macedonia0.692 → 0.637−0.055
India0.458 → 0.405−0.053

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 2015.
151 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.912. 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-2015-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 (2015). Academic Freedom Index, 2015 [data set], describing 2015. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2015

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2014
176 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 2016
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