Data for 2025

Academic Freedom Index, 2025

Name: Academic Freedom Index, 2025
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2025, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Academic Freedom Index, 2025 covers 176 countries. Czechia is highest, at 0.978; Nicaragua is lowest, at 0.019. The middle country reads 0.619. Against 2024, 150 values changed (57 up, 93 down), the same countries are covered.

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Academic Freedom Index · Data for 2025

HighestCzechia

0.978

LowestNicaragua

0.019

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

176countries
1measure
2025the 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, 2025, 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, 2025: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.978
2	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.974
3	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.946
4	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.939
5	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.937
6	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.934
=7	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.931
=7	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.931
9	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.928
10	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.922
=11	Chile`CHL`South America	0.918
=11	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.918
13	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.915
14	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.914
15	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.910
16	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.909
17	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.904
18	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.901
19	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.900
20	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.889
21	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.881
22	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.877
23	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.876
24	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.875
25	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.874
26	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.869
=27	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.866
=27	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.866
=29	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.864
=29	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.864
=29	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.864
32	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.862
=33	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.854
=33	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.854
=35	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.850
=35	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.850
=37	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.849
=37	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.849
39	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.847
40	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.844
41	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.840
42	Peru`PER`South America	0.838
43	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.834
=44	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.831
=44	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.831
=46	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.828
=46	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.828
=46	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.828
49	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.826
50	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.824
51	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.823
52	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.822
53	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.821
54	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.818
55	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.811
56	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.807
57	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.800
58	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.795
59	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.773
60	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.763
61	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.761
=62	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.760
=62	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.760
64	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.756
65	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.755
66	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.754
67	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.750
68	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.736
69	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.731
70	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.718
=71	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.709
=71	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.709
73	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.706
74	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.703
75	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.690
=76	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.689
=76	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.689
78	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.684
79	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.680
80	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.671
81	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.670
82	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.668
83	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.664
84	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.643
=85	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.636
=85	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.636
87	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.625
88	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.621
89	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.618
=90	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.609
=90	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.609
92	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.604
93	Colombia`COL`South America	0.599
94	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.598
95	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.592
96	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.589
97	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.584
=98	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.582
=98	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.582
100	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.575
101	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.562
102	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.558
103	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.555
104	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.523
105	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.519
106	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.515
107	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.506
108	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.494
109	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.481
110	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.466
111	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.433
112	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.428
113	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.418
114	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.416
115	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.408
116	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.401
117	United States`USA`Northern America	0.397
118	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.382
119	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.378
120	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.337
121	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.334
122	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.330
123	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.326
124	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.303
125	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.302
126	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.301
127	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.299
128	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.289
129	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.282
=130	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.281
=130	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.281
132	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.268
133	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.255
134	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.253
135	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.248
136	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.240
137	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.237
138	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.222
139	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.216
140	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.215
141	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.207
=142	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.206
=142	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.206
144	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.201
145	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.199
146	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.196
147	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.195
148	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.179
149	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.176
150	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.173
151	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.165
152	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.157
153	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.144
154	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.136
155	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.132
156	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.129
157	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.122
158	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.108
159	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.100
160	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.097
161	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.092
162	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.088
163	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.086
164	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.084
165	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.082
166	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.075
167	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.071
168	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.066
169	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.064
=170	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.060
=170	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.060
172	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.054
173	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.036
174	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.034
175	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.023
176	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.019

02In 2025

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Czechia0.978
2Estonia0.974
3Belgium0.946
4Jamaica0.939
5Slovenia0.937

Lowest

176Nicaragua0.019
175Myanmar0.023
174Eritrea0.034
173North Korea0.036
172South Sudan0.054

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.619. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032024 → 2025

Since 2024

What changed between 2024 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
150values changed, of 176 in both
57 · 93rose · fell
26unchanged

Rose most

Mauritius0.346 → 0.592+0.246
Bangladesh0.286 → 0.519+0.233
Iraq0.412 → 0.604+0.192
Somaliland0.567 → 0.709+0.142
Portugal0.715 → 0.826+0.111

Fell most

Ecuador0.731 → 0.433−0.298
United States0.677 → 0.397−0.280
Burkina Faso0.840 → 0.562−0.278
Kosovo0.821 → 0.621−0.200
Uganda0.375 → 0.196−0.179

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 2025.
156 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.864. 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-2025-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 (2025). Academic Freedom Index, 2025 [data set], describing 2025. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/academic-freedom/2025

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Academic Freedom Index, 2024
176 countries
The year after ›
This is the newest year. A newer one will get its own page at its own address; this one is never rewritten.
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