Data for 2016

Freedom of Religion, 2016

Name: Freedom of Religion, 2016
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2016, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

V-Dem's measure of freedom of religion asks whether people are free to choose, change and practise a religion, in private or in public, and whether religious groups can organise without interference from the authorities. It is an expert-coded estimate on an open-ended scale centred near zero, and a higher figure means more religious freedom.

Freedom of Religion, 2016 covers 176 countries. Finland is highest, at 2.844; Saudi Arabia is lowest, at -3.270. The middle country reads 1.332. Against 2015, 50 values changed (17 up, 33 down), the same countries are covered.

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Freedom of Religion · Data for 2016

HighestFinland

2.844

LowestSaudi Arabia

-3.270

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

176countries
1measure
2016the year it describes
174distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Freedom of Religion, 2016, 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

Freedom of Religion, 2016: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.844
2	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.792
3	United States`USA`Northern America	2.756
4	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	2.743
5	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.739
6	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.687
7	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	2.629
8	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	2.607
9	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	2.594
10	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.579
11	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	2.571
12	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	2.499
13	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	2.497
14	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.464
15	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	2.411
16	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	2.332
17	Peru`PER`South America	2.319
18	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	2.299
19	Argentina`ARG`South America	2.290
20	Paraguay`PRY`South America	2.278
21	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	2.267
22	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	2.263
23	Bolivia`BOL`South America	2.242
24	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	2.236
25	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	2.230
26	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	2.224
27	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	2.185
28	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	2.178
29	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	2.177
30	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	2.173
31	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	2.155
32	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2.128
33	Brazil`BRA`South America	2.126
34	Chile`CHL`South America	2.122
35	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	2.099
36	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	2.091
37	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	2.087
38	Suriname`SUR`South America	2.076
39	Guyana`GUY`South America	2.068
40	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.053
41	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	2.051
42	Uruguay`URY`South America	2.016
=43	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	2.002
=43	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	2.002
45	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.994
46	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.991
47	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	1.987
48	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.982
49	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.977
50	Panama`PAN`Central America	1.969
51	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.954
52	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1.952
53	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	1.942
54	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	1.939
55	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1.921
56	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	1.911
57	Colombia`COL`South America	1.894
58	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	1.893
59	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1.888
60	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1.863
61	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	1.832
62	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	1.827
63	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.822
64	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1.767
65	Honduras`HND`Central America	1.756
66	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.729
67	Ecuador`ECU`South America	1.726
68	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.721
69	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	1.714
70	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.709
71	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1.696
72	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	1.695
73	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	1.677
74	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1.663
75	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.661
76	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.649
77	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	1.633
78	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.603
79	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.582
80	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	1.572
81	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	1.568
82	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	1.521
83	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	1.516
84	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1.481
85	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	1.385
86	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	1.380
87	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.375
88	Mexico`MEX`Central America	1.336
89	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	1.327
90	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1.325
91	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1.295
92	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.265
93	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	1.253
94	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	1.208
95	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	1.174
96	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	1.156
97	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	1.155
98	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.137
99	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.133
100	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.120
101	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.118
=102	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.116
=102	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1.116
104	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	1.107
105	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	1.077
106	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	1.072
107	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	1.026
108	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	1.017
109	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.994
110	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.972
111	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.954
112	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.953
113	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.939
114	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.930
115	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.917
116	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.902
117	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.875
118	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.863
119	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.860
120	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.819
121	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.795
122	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.785
123	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.758
124	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.754
125	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.747
126	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.649
127	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.617
128	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.569
129	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.535
130	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.502
131	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.492
132	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.488
133	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.430
134	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.335
135	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.292
136	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.230
137	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.209
138	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.123
139	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.094
140	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.005
141	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.001
142	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	-0.149
143	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-0.150
144	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	-0.391
145	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	-0.464
146	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-0.547
147	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	-0.567
148	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-0.568
149	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-0.597
150	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-0.602
151	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-0.669
152	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	-0.703
153	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	-0.707
154	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-0.819
155	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.867
156	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-0.868
157	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-0.915
158	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-0.953
159	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-1.028
160	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	-1.170
161	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-1.259
162	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-1.509
163	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-1.626
164	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-1.671
165	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-1.708
166	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-1.871
167	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-1.879
168	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.900
169	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-2.058
170	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-2.174
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-2.454
172	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	-2.499
173	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-2.579
174	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-2.878
175	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-3.189
176	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-3.270

02In 2016

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Finland2.844
2New Zealand2.792
3United States2.756
4Portugal2.743
5Norway2.739

Lowest

176Saudi Arabia-3.270
175North Korea-3.189
174Yemen-2.878
173Mauritania-2.579
172Maldives-2.499

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 1.332. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032015 → 2016

Since 2015

+0 / −0countries joined / left
50values changed, of 176 in both
17 · 33rose · fell
126unchanged

Rose most

Burundi0.488 → 0.954+0.466
Fiji1.322 → 1.714+0.392
Somaliland-0.198 → 0.001+0.199
Eritrea-1.698 → -1.509+0.189
Solomon Islands0.955 → 1.118+0.163

Fell most

Montenegro2.232 → 0.972−1.260
Brazil2.899 → 2.126−0.773
Poland2.497 → 1.827−0.670
Lithuania2.592 → 1.954−0.638
Philippines1.497 → 0.860−0.637

04Caveats

Read before you use

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, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2016.
174 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.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 176 countries has every column.

05The files

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Licence in full

.csv
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176 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download freedom-of-religion-2016-nations-inquiry.csv
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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 to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2016). Freedom of Religion, 2016 [data set], describing 2016. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-religion/2016

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Freedom of Religion, 2015
176 countries
The year after ›
Freedom of Religion, 2017
176 countries
All of them
Freedom of Religion: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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