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Data for 2021

Freedom of Religion, 2021

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Religion, 2021 covers 176 countries. New Zealand is highest, at 2.792; North Korea is lowest, at -3.250. The middle country reads 1.309. Against 2020, 60 values changed (27 up, 33 down), the same countries are covered.

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Freedom of Religion · Data for 2021

HighestNew Zealand

2.792

LowestNorth Korea

-3.250

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, 2021, 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, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand2.792
2NorwayNORNorthern Europe2.739
3South KoreaKOREastern Asia2.687
4FinlandFINNorthern Europe2.633
5SwedenSWENorthern Europe2.629
6TaiwanTWNEastern Asia2.607
7JapanJPNEastern Asia2.579
8ArgentinaARGSouth America2.548
9PortugalPRTSouthern Europe2.517
10BeninBENWestern Africa2.499
11GhanaGHAWestern Africa2.497
12IrelandIRLNorthern Europe2.464
13Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean2.449
14NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe2.411
15BarbadosBRBCaribbean2.410
16NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa2.386
17DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe2.338
18UruguayURYSouth America2.325
19PeruPERSouth America2.319
20United StatesUSANorthern America2.311
21SurinameSURSouth America2.295
22ParaguayPRYSouth America2.278
23El SalvadorSLVCentral America2.267
24Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa2.263
25AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand2.236

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. 1New Zealand2.792
  2. 2Norway2.739
  3. 3South Korea2.687
  4. 4Finland2.633
  5. 5Sweden2.629

Lowest

  1. 176North Korea-3.250
  2. 175Yemen-2.910
  3. 174Tajikistan-2.817
  4. 173Saudi Arabia-2.746
  5. 172China-2.735

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 1.309. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 60values changed, of 176 in both
  • 27 · 33rose · fell
  • 116unchanged

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 2021.

  • 171 distinct values among 176

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 2.177. 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 (2021). Freedom of Religion, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-religion/2021

0636 held

Other years

07Questions

Freedom of Religion, 2021: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of religion in Freedom of Religion, 2021?

New Zealand, at 2.792, of the 176 countries in the file.

What year does Freedom of Religion, 2021 describe?

2021.

How many countries does Freedom of Religion, 2021 cover?

176.

Where can I download Freedom of Religion, 2021?

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, 2021 the newest?

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

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