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Data for 2012

Freedom of Religion, 2012

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

Freedom of Religion, 2012 covers 176 countries. Brazil is highest, at 2.899; Saudi Arabia is lowest, at -3.515. The middle country reads 1.635. Against 2011, 31 values changed (14 up, 17 down), the same countries are covered.

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Freedom of Religion · Data for 2012

HighestBrazil

2.899

LowestSaudi Arabia

-3.515

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

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Freedom of Religion, 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.

Showing 25 of 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Religion, 2012: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1BrazilBRASouth America2.899
2FinlandFINNorthern Europe2.844
3New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand2.792
4United StatesUSANorthern America2.779
5PortugalPRTSouthern Europe2.743
6NorwayNORNorthern Europe2.739
7South KoreaKOREastern Asia2.687
8CzechiaCZEEastern Europe2.649
9SwedenSWENorthern Europe2.629
10TaiwanTWNEastern Asia2.607
11DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe2.594
12LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe2.592
13JapanJPNEastern Asia2.579
14AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe2.571
15AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand2.532
16GhanaGHAWestern Africa2.524
17PolandPOLEastern Europe2.497
18GuyanaGUYSouth America2.469
19IrelandIRLNorthern Europe2.464
20NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe2.411
21United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe2.393
22NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa2.376
23South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa2.332
24ColombiaCOLSouth America2.325
25PeruPERSouth America2.319

02In 2012

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. 1Brazil2.899
  2. 2Finland2.844
  3. 3New Zealand2.792
  4. 4United States2.779
  5. 5Portugal2.743

Lowest

  1. 176Saudi Arabia-3.515
  2. 175North Korea-3.189
  3. 174Maldives-3.126
  4. 173Turkmenistan-2.454
  5. 172Uzbekistan-2.134

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 1.635. “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
  • 31values changed, of 176 in both
  • 14 · 17rose · fell
  • 145unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

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.

The site’s method

  • 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.

  • 172 distinct values among 176

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 2.002. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • The position is ours

    V-Dem Institute publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.

  • Which end is better

    A higher value is the better result.

  • 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

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. Share, adapt and use commercially with credit — and anything you publish that adapts it must carry the same licence.

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2012). Freedom of Religion, 2012 [data set], describing 2012. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-religion/2012

0636 held

Other years

07Questions

Freedom of Religion, 2012: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of religion in Freedom of Religion, 2012?

Brazil, at 2.899, of the 176 countries in the file.

What year does Freedom of Religion, 2012 describe?

2012.

How many countries does Freedom of Religion, 2012 cover?

176.

Where can I download Freedom of Religion, 2012?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Freedom of Religion, 2012 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Freedom of Religion, 2025.

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