Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Global Restrictions on Religion

Table: Social Hostilities Index

This table shows all 198 countries and territories in descending order of their scores on the Pew Forum’s index of social hostilities involving religion. The Pew Forum has not attached numerical rankings to the countries because there are numerous tie scores and the differences between the scores of countries that are close to each other on this table are not necessarily meaningful. This is particularly the case at the low end of the scale: The range of scores among the 11 countries in the Very High (top 5%) category is greater than the range of scores among the 117 countries in the Low (bottom 60%) category.

View list of countries and territories with:

Very high levels of restrictions (top 5% of scores) High levels of restrictions (next 15% of scores) Moderate levels of restrictions (next 20% of scores) Low levels of restrictions (bottom 60% of scores)

High Next 15% of scores Scores from 3.3 to 6.7
Iraq
India
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Indonesia
Bangladesh
Somalia
Israel
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Saudi Arabia

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High Next 15% of scores Scores from 3.3 to 6.7
Egypt
Palestinian territories
Yemen
Nigeria
Comoros
Kyrgyzstan
Syria
Nepal
Iran
Lebanon
Turkey
Mexico
Kenya
Romania
Algeria
Jordan
Ghana
Ethiopia
Georgia
Russia
Liberia
Ivory Coast
Burma (Myanmar)
Moldova
Philippines
Greece
Timor-Leste
Serbia
Congo
Chad

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Moderate Next 20% of scores Scores from 1.9 to 3.2
Colombia
Tunisia
Uzbekistan
Angola
France
Brunei
Tanzania
Kazakhstan
Morocco
Central African Republic
Maldives
Kuwait
Kosovo
Thailand
Bulgaria
Ukraine
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Armenia
South Africa
Montenegro
United Kingdom
Germany
Guinea
Bahrain
Azerbaijan
Libya
Djibouti
Croatia
Mongolia
Italy
Denmark
Zimbabwe
Burkina Faso
Belarus
Switzerland
Vietnam
United States
Republic of Macedonia
Australia
Fiji

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Low Bottom 60% of scores Scores from 0 to 1.8
Spain
Slovakia
Hungary
Sierra Leone
Cyprus
Western Sahara
Canada
Tajikistan
China
Burundi
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Niger
Bhutan
Venezuela
Japan
Malaysia
Trinidad and Tobago
Netherlands
Austria
Papua New Guinea
Cameroon
Belgium
Mauritius
Poland
Mauritania
Malawi
Kiribati
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Czech Republic
Sweden
Brazil
Haiti
Guatemala
Lithuania
Namibia
Iceland
Latvia
Gambia
St. Lucia
Paraguay
Laos
Slovenia
Norway
Samoa
Argentina
New Zealand
Benin
Northern Cyprus
Mozambique
Ireland
Chile
Finland
Estonia
Nauru
Cuba
Bolivia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Cambodia
Ecuador
Eritrea
Hong Kong
Uruguay
Nicaragua
Portugal
Madagascar
Liechtenstein
Albania
Guinea Bissau
Honduras
Bahamas
United Arab Emirates
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Solomon Islands
Republic of Congo
Oman
Qatar
Peru
Antigua and Barbuda
Dominica
Barbados
St. Kitts and Nevis
Palau
Botswana
Mali
Gabon
Malta
Singapore
Macau
Jamaica
Luxembourg
Andorra
Marshall Islands
Cape Verde
Monaco
Equatorial Guinea
Rwanda
Togo
Tonga
Zambia
Swaziland
South Korea
Seychelles
Belize
Panama
Guyana
Lesotho
Grenada
Taiwan
Dominican Republic
Senegal
Federated States of Micronesia
Sao Tome and Principe
Suriname
San Marino

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NOTE: The number of countries in each percentile range may be slightly more or less than the actual percentage because of tie scores.NORTH KOREA: The sources clearly indicate that the government of North Korea is among the most repressive in the world with respect to religion as well as other civil liberties. But because North Korean society is e ectively closed to outsiders, the sources are unable to provide the kind of specifi c and timely information that the Pew Forum coded in this quantitative study. Therefore, the report does not include a score for North Korea on either index.

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