Data for 2022

Academic Freedom Index, 2022

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2022
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2022, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2022 covers 176 countries. Czechia is highest, at 0.974; North Korea is lowest, at 0.012. The middle country reads 0.734. Against 2021, 152 values changed (65 up, 87 down), the same countries are covered.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2022

HighestCzechia

0.974

LowestNorth Korea

0.012

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

176countries
1measure
2022the year it describes
155distinct 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, 2022, 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, 2022: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.974
=2	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.969
=2	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.969
4	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.960
5	Chile`CHL`South America	0.953
6	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.952
=7	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.949
=7	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.949
9	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.945
=10	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.943
=10	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.943
12	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.941
13	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.939
=14	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.938
=14	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.938
16	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.935
=17	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.929
=17	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.929
19	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.927
=20	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.924
=20	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.924
22	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.923
23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.922
24	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.917
25	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.915
26	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.914
27	Peru`PER`South America	0.913
28	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.911
29	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.910
30	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.909
=31	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.901
=31	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.901
33	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.898
34	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.896
35	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.895
36	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.893
37	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.891
38	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.885
39	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.874
40	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.871
41	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.869
42	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.865
43	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.864
44	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.861
45	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.858
=46	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.854
=46	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.854
48	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.851
49	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.850
50	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.847
51	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.846
52	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.845
=53	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.844
=53	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.844
=55	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.843
=55	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.843
57	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.839
58	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.836
=59	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.833
=59	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.833
61	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.830
62	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.829
63	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.825
64	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.824
65	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.819
66	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.817
=67	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.812
=67	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.812
=69	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.809
=69	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.809
=69	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.809
72	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.807
73	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.801
74	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.792
75	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.790
76	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.789
77	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.783
78	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.780
=79	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.777
=79	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.777
81	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.775
82	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.774
83	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.767
84	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.763
85	United States`USA`Northern America	0.748
86	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.747
87	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.738
88	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.736
89	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.732
90	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.728
91	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.723
92	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.719
93	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.709
94	Colombia`COL`South America	0.703
95	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.701
96	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.693
=97	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.691
=97	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.691
99	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.676
100	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.658
101	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.657
102	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.639
103	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.634
104	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.626
105	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.625
106	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.616
107	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.583
108	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.551
109	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.525
110	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.514
111	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.504
112	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.502
113	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.492
114	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.465
115	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.462
116	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.456
=117	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.451
=117	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.451
119	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.446
120	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.442
121	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.421
122	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.407
123	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.406
124	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.404
125	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.390
126	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.375
127	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.370
128	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.365
129	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.363
130	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.327
131	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.320
=132	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.301
=132	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.301
134	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.296
135	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.294
136	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.278
137	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.277
138	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.275
139	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.261
140	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.251
141	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.245
=142	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.241
=142	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.241
=144	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.239
=144	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.239
146	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.228
147	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.215
148	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.214
149	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.208
150	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.207
151	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.188
152	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.180
153	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.148
154	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.122
=155	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.111
=155	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.111
157	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.109
158	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.102
159	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.089
160	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.086
161	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.085
162	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.084
163	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.078
164	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.075
165	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.074
166	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.064
167	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.061
168	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.059
169	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.053
170	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.048
171	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.036
172	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.035
173	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.020
174	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.017
175	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.013
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.012

02In 2022

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Czechia0.974
2Belgiumshared0.969
2Estoniashared0.969
4Germany0.960
5Chile0.953

Lowest

176North Korea0.012
175Turkmenistan0.013
174Eritrea0.017
173Myanmar0.020
172Syria0.035

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

032021 → 2022

Since 2021

What changed between 2021 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
152values changed, of 176 in both
65 · 87rose · fell
24unchanged

Rose most

Suriname0.632 → 0.850+0.218
Zambia0.683 → 0.807+0.124
Colombia0.613 → 0.703+0.090
Thailand0.152 → 0.239+0.087
Uzbekistan0.230 → 0.296+0.066

Fell most

El Salvador0.571 → 0.294−0.277
Afghanistan0.261 → 0.111−0.150
Mexico0.773 → 0.657−0.116
Ukraine0.627 → 0.514−0.113
Mauritania0.302 → 0.207−0.095

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 2022.
155 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.809. 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-2022-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 (2022). Academic Freedom Index, 2022 [data set], describing 2022. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2022

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2021
176 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 2023
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