Data for 2023

Academic Freedom Index, 2023

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2023
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2023, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2023 covers 176 countries. Czechia is highest, at 0.976; North Korea is lowest, at 0.018. The middle country reads 0.694. Against 2022, 148 values changed (50 up, 98 down), the same countries are covered.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2023

HighestCzechia

0.976

LowestNorth Korea

0.018

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

176countries
1measure
2023the year it describes
156distinct 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, 2023, 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, 2023: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.976
2	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.969
3	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.965
4	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.964
5	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.947
6	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.942
7	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.941
8	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.939
9	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.938
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.936
11	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.935
12	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.928
13	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.922
14	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.917
15	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.912
16	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.911
17	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.909
=18	Chile`CHL`South America	0.907
=18	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.907
=18	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.907
21	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.906
=22	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.904
=22	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.904
24	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.901
25	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.898
26	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.896
27	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.895
28	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.894
29	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.893
30	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.885
31	Peru`PER`South America	0.884
32	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.882
=33	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.874
=33	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.874
=33	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.874
36	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.871
37	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.869
38	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.867
39	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.862
40	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.859
41	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.855
42	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.845
43	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.842
44	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.840
45	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.838
46	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.833
=47	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.832
=47	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.832
49	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.829
=50	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.827
=50	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.827
52	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.826
=53	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.824
=53	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.824
=53	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.824
=56	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.819
=56	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.819
58	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.817
59	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.816
60	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.813
61	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.812
62	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.809
63	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.808
64	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.802
65	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.797
66	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.795
67	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.790
68	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.787
69	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.786
70	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.778
71	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.773
72	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.771
73	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.765
74	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.764
75	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.762
76	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.757
77	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.745
78	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.738
79	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.729
80	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.728
81	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.727
82	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.720
83	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.717
84	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.709
85	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.702
86	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.700
=87	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.695
=87	United States`USA`Northern America	0.695
89	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.692
=90	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.690
=90	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.690
92	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.687
93	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.681
94	Colombia`COL`South America	0.676
95	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.675
96	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.655
97	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.649
=98	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.641
=98	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.641
100	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.639
101	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.630
=102	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.625
=102	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.625
104	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.621
105	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.601
106	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.580
107	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.567
108	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.543
109	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.502
110	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.484
=111	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.481
=111	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.481
113	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.475
114	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.457
115	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.444
116	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.442
117	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.432
118	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.429
119	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.426
120	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.405
121	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.400
122	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.387
123	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.378
124	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.376
125	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.374
126	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.348
127	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.331
128	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.322
129	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.302
130	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.300
131	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.297
132	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.296
133	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.294
134	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.281
=135	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.279
=135	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.279
137	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.276
138	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.275
139	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.265
140	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.263
141	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.242
142	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.241
143	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.236
144	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.229
145	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.215
146	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.214
147	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.196
148	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.194
=149	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.191
=149	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.191
151	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.190
152	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.188
=153	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.180
=153	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.180
155	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.167
156	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.161
157	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.131
158	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.118
=159	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.099
=159	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.099
161	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.096
162	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.093
163	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.089
164	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.084
=165	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.078
=165	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.078
167	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.077
168	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.064
169	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.059
170	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.056
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.053
172	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.036
173	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.035
174	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.023
175	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.021
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.018

02In 2023

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Czechia0.976
2Estonia0.969
3Argentina0.965
4Belgium0.964
5Italy0.947

Lowest

176North Korea0.018
175Eritrea0.021
174Myanmar0.023
173Nicaragua0.035
172Belarus0.036

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.694. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

What changed between 2022 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
148values changed, of 176 in both
50 · 98rose · fell
28unchanged

Rose most

Fiji0.301 → 0.630+0.329
Brazil0.451 → 0.757+0.306
Bahrain0.061 → 0.194+0.133
Rwanda0.084 → 0.180+0.096
Sri Lanka0.616 → 0.700+0.084

Fell most

Gabon0.812 → 0.429−0.383
Mali0.843 → 0.475−0.368
Liberia0.825 → 0.621−0.204
Somaliland0.736 → 0.567−0.169
Albania0.829 → 0.692−0.137

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 2023.
156 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.907. 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-2023-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 (2023). Academic Freedom Index, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2023

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2022
176 countries
The year after ›
Academic Freedom Index, 2024
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