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Data for 1999

Freedom of Religion, 1999

1999, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Religion, 1999 covers 175 countries. Sweden is highest, at 2.995; Saudi Arabia is lowest, at -3.515. The middle country reads 1.345. Against 1998, 15 values changed (10 up, 5 down), 1 country joined.

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Freedom of Religion · Data for 1999

HighestSweden

2.995

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, 1999, 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 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Religion, 1999: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1SwedenSWENorthern Europe2.995
2BrazilBRASouth America2.899
3FinlandFINNorthern Europe2.844
4New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand2.792
5United StatesUSANorthern America2.779
6PortugalPRTSouthern Europe2.743
7NorwayNORNorthern Europe2.739
8South KoreaKOREastern Asia2.687
9HungaryHUNEastern Europe2.686
10SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe2.654
11CzechiaCZEEastern Europe2.649
12TaiwanTWNEastern Asia2.607
13DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe2.594
14JapanJPNEastern Asia2.579
15IcelandISLNorthern Europe2.568
16GhanaGHAWestern Africa2.524
17PolandPOLEastern Europe2.497
18GuyanaGUYSouth America2.469
19BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia2.452
20NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe2.411
21NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa2.376
22SurinameSURSouth America2.291
23ArgentinaARGSouth America2.290
24BelgiumBELWestern Europe2.260
25NicaraguaNICCentral America2.252

02In 1999

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. 1Sweden2.995
  2. 2Brazil2.899
  3. 3Finland2.844
  4. 4New Zealand2.792
  5. 5United States2.779

Lowest

  1. 175Saudi Arabia-3.515
  2. 174North Korea-3.189
  3. 173Afghanistan-3.055
  4. 172Maldives-3.033
  5. 171China-2.475

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 1.345. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031998 → 1999

Since 1998

What changed between 1998 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +1 / −0countries joined / left
  • 15values changed, of 174 in both
  • 10 · 5rose · fell
  • 159unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

+ Kosovo

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 1999.

  • 171 distinct values among 175

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 1.257. 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 175 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 (1999). Freedom of Religion, 1999 [data set], describing 1999. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-religion/1999

0636 held

Other years

07Questions

Freedom of Religion, 1999: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of religion in Freedom of Religion, 1999?

Sweden, at 2.995, of the 175 countries in the file.

What year does Freedom of Religion, 1999 describe?

1999.

How many countries does Freedom of Religion, 1999 cover?

175.

Where can I download Freedom of Religion, 1999?

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, 1999 the newest?

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

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