Visualizing The State Of Freedom Around The World
In 2024, 60 countries saw their freedom decline in a historic election year.
Strikingly, 40% of countries and territories that held elections experienced targeted attacks on candidates amid heightened instability.
Yet bright spots were seen in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Syria, driven by political reform.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows the state of freedom by country, based on data fromย Freedom House.
Global Freedom Continues to Deteriorate
For the 19th year in a row, the state of freedom declined globally.
In particular, freedom declined the most in 2024 for El Salvador, Haiti, and Kuwait. In absolute terms, the Gaza Strip and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine have among the lowest scores of freedom amid ongoing, violent conflict.
| Country/ Territory | Status | Score |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | F | 100 |
| ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand | F | 99 |
| ๐ณ๐ด Norway | F | 99 |
| ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | F | 99 |
| ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | F | 97 |
| ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | F | 97 |
| ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | F | 97 |
| ๐ฑ๐บ Luxembourg | F | 97 |
| ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | F | 97 |
| ๐ธ๐ฒ San Marino | F | 97 |
| ๐ง๐ช Belgium | F | 96 |
| ๐ช๐ช Estonia | F | 96 |
| ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | F | 96 |
| ๐ต๐น Portugal | F | 96 |
| ๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia | F | 96 |
| ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland | F | 96 |
| ๐บ๐พ Uruguay | F | 96 |
| ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | F | 95 |
| ๐จ๐ฑ Chile | F | 95 |
| ๐จ๐ฟ Czech Republic | F | 95 |
| ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | F | 95 |
| ๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland | F | 95 |
| ๐ง๐ง Barbados | F | 94 |
| ๐น๐ผ Taiwan | F | 94 |
| ๐ฆ๐ฉ Andorra | F | 93 |
| ๐ฆ๐น Austria | F | 93 |
| ๐ฒ๐ญ Marshall Islands | F | 93 |
| ๐น๐ป Tuvalu | F | 93 |
| ๐จ๐ป Cabo Verde | F | 92 |
| ๐ฉ๐ฒ Dominica | F | 92 |
| ๐ซ๐ฒ Micronesia | F | 92 |
| ๐ต๐ผ Palau | F | 92 |
| ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | F | 92 |
| ๐จ๐ท Costa Rica | F | 91 |
| ๐จ๐พ Cyprus | F | 91 |
| ๐ด St. Lucia | F | 91 |
| ๐ง๐ธ Bahamas | F | 90 |
| ๐ฑ๐ฎ Liechtenstein | F | 90 |
| ๐ช๐ธ Spain | F | 90 |
| ๐ด St. Vincent and the Grenadines | F | 90 |
| ๐ซ๐ท France | F | 89 |
| ๐ฌ๐ฉ Grenada | F | 89 |
| ๐ฎ๐น Italy | F | 89 |
| ๐ฐ๐ฎ Kiribati | F | 89 |
| ๐ฑ๐ป Latvia | F | 89 |
| ๐ฑ๐น Lithuania | F | 89 |
| ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia | F | 89 |
| ๐ด St. Kitts and Nevis | F | 89 |
| ๐ง๐ฟ Belize | F | 88 |
| ๐ฒ๐น Malta | F | 87 |
| ๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius | F | 86 |
| ๐ฆ๐ท Argentina | F | 85 |
| ๐ฌ๐ท Greece | F | 85 |
| ๐ฒ๐ณ Mongolia | F | 84 |
| ๐ผ๐ธ Samoa | F | 84 |
| ๐ธ๐น Sao Tome and Principe | F | 84 |
| ๐บ๐ธ United States | F | 84 |
| ๐ฆ๐ฌ Antigua and Barbuda | F | 83 |
| ๐ต๐ฆ Panama | F | 83 |
| ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | F | 82 |
| ๐ฒ๐จ Monaco | F | 82 |
| ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | F | 82 |
| ๐ท๐ด Romania | F | 82 |
| ๐น๐น Trinidad and Tobago | F | 82 |
| ๐ป๐บ Vanuatu | F | 82 |
| ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | F | 81 |
| ๐ด South Korea | F | 81 |
| ๐ฌ๐ญ Ghana | F | 80 |
| ๐ฏ๐ฒ Jamaica | F | 80 |
| ๐ธ๐จ Seychelles | F | 80 |
| ๐ธ๐ท Suriname | F | 80 |
| ๐น๐ด Tonga | F | 80 |
| ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria | F | 77 |
| ๐ด Northern Cyprus | F | 76 |
| ๐ง๐ผ Botswana | F | 75 |
| ๐ณ๐ท Nauru | F | 75 |
| ๐ธ๐ง Solomon Islands | F | 75 |
| ๐ฌ๐พ Guyana | F | 74 |
| ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | F | 73 |
| ๐ณ๐ฆ Namibia | F | 73 |
| ๐ง๐ท Brazil | F | 72 |
| ๐น๐ฑ Timor-Leste | F | 72 |
| ๐จ๐ด Colombia | F | 70 |
| ๐ซ๐ฏ Fiji | PF | 69 |
| ๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro | PF | 69 |
| ๐ธ๐ณ Senegal | F | 69 |
| ๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania | PF | 68 |
| ๐ง๐น Bhutan | F | 68 |
| ๐ฉ๐ด Dominican Republic | PF | 68 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฐ North Macedonia | PF | 67 |
| ๐ต๐ช Peru | PF | 67 |
| ๐ฑ๐ธ Lesotho | F | 66 |
| ๐ง๐ด Bolivia | PF | 65 |
| ๐ช๐จ Ecuador | PF | 65 |
| ๐ญ๐บ Hungary | PF | 65 |
| ๐ฒ๐ผ Malawi | PF | 65 |
| ๐ฑ๐ท Liberia | PF | 64 |
| ๐ฎ๐ณ India | PF | 63 |
| ๐ต๐พ Paraguay | PF | 63 |
| ๐ณ๐ต Nepal | PF | 62 |
| ๐ต๐ฌ Papua New Guinea | PF | 61 |
| ๐ง๐ฏ Benin | PF | 60 |
| ๐ฝ๐ฐ Kosovo | PF | 60 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฉ Moldova | PF | 60 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico | PF | 59 |
| ๐ธ๐ฑ Sierra Leone | PF | 59 |
| ๐ต๐ญ Philippines | PF | 58 |
| ๐ฑ๐ฐ Sri Lanka | PF | 58 |
| ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia | PF | 56 |
| ๐ท๐ธ Serbia | PF | 56 |
| ๐ฌ๐ช Georgia | PF | 55 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฌ Madagascar | PF | 55 |
| ๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenia | PF | 54 |
| ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | PF | 53 |
| ๐ฟ๐ฒ Zambia | PF | 53 |
| ๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia and Herzegovina | PF | 52 |
| ๐ฐ๐ช Kenya | PF | 51 |
| ๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine | PF | 51 |
| ๐ฌ๐ฒ The Gambia | PF | 50 |
| ๐จ๐ฎ Cote d’Ivoire | PF | 49 |
| ๐ฌ๐น Guatemala | PF | 48 |
| ๐ญ๐ณ Honduras | PF | 48 |
| ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore | PF | 48 |
| ๐ธ๐ป El Salvador | PF | 47 |
| ๐ด Somaliland | PF | 47 |
| ๐ง๐ฉ Bangladesh | PF | 45 |
| ๐ณ๐ฌ Nigeria | PF | 44 |
| ๐น๐ณ Tunisia | PF | 44 |
| ๐ฒ๐ป Maldives | PF | 43 |
| ๐ฐ๐ฒ Comoros | PF | 42 |
| ๐ฌ๐ผ Guinea-Bissau | PF | 41 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฟ Mozambique | PF | 41 |
| ๐น๐ฌ Togo | PF | 41 |
| ๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong | PF | 40 |
| ๐ด Abkhazia | PF | 39 |
| ๐ฑ๐ง Lebanon | PF | 39 |
| ๐ฒ๐ท Mauritania | PF | 39 |
| ๐ด Indian Kashmir | PF | 38 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | PF | 37 |
| ๐น๐ฟ Tanzania | NF | 35 |
| ๐ฏ๐ด Jordan | PF | 34 |
| ๐น๐ญ Thailand | NF | 34 |
| ๐บ๐ฌ Uganda | NF | 34 |
| ๐น๐ท Turkey | NF | 33 |
| ๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan | PF | 32 |
| ๐ฉ๐ฟ Algeria | NF | 31 |
| ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq | NF | 31 |
| ๐ฐ๐ผ Kuwait | NF | 31 |
| ๐ฌ๐ณ Guinea | NF | 30 |
| ๐ณ๐ช Niger | NF | 30 |
| ๐ด Pakistani Kashmir | NF | 30 |
| ๐ฆ๐ด Angola | NF | 28 |
| ๐ง๐ณ Brunei | NF | 27 |
| ๐ฐ๐ฌ Kyrgyzstan | NF | 26 |
| ๐ฟ๐ผ Zimbabwe | NF | 26 |
| ๐ง๐ซ Burkina Faso | NF | 25 |
| ๐ถ๐ฆ Qatar | NF | 25 |
| ๐ฉ๐ฏ Djibouti | NF | 24 |
| ๐ญ๐น Haiti | NF | 24 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฑ Mali | NF | 24 |
| ๐ด๐ฒ Oman | NF | 24 |
| ๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia | NF | 23 |
| ๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan | NF | 23 |
| ๐ด West Bank | NF | 22 |
| ๐ฌ๐ฆ Gabon | NF | 21 |
| ๐ท๐ผ Rwanda | NF | 21 |
| ๐ป๐ณ Vietnam | NF | 20 |
| ๐ด Congo (Kinshasa) | NF | 18 |
| ๐ช๐ฌ Egypt | NF | 18 |
| ๐ช๐น Ethiopia | NF | 18 |
| ๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates | NF | 18 |
| ๐ด Congo (Brazzaville) | NF | 17 |
| ๐ธ๐ฟ Eswatini | NF | 17 |
| ๐ด Transnistria | NF | 17 |
| ๐ง๐ฎ Burundi | NF | 15 |
| ๐จ๐ฒ Cameroon | NF | 15 |
| ๐น๐ฉ Chad | NF | 15 |
| ๐ณ๐ฎ Nicaragua | NF | 14 |
| ๐ด Laos | NF | 13 |
| ๐ป๐ช Venezuela | NF | 13 |
| ๐ง๐ญ Bahrain | NF | 12 |
| ๐ท๐บ Russia | NF | 12 |
| ๐ด South Ossetia | NF | 12 |
| ๐บ๐ฟ Uzbekistan | NF | 12 |
| ๐ฎ๐ท Iran | NF | 11 |
| ๐จ๐บ Cuba | NF | 10 |
| ๐ฑ๐พ Libya | NF | 10 |
| ๐พ๐ช Yemen | NF | 10 |
| ๐จ๐ณ China | NF | 9 |
| ๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | NF | 9 |
| ๐ธ๐ด Somalia | NF | 8 |
| ๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan | NF | 7 |
| ๐ง๐พ Belarus | NF | 7 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฒ Myanmar | NF | 7 |
| ๐ฆ๐ซ Afghanistan | NF | 6 |
| ๐จ๐ซ Central African Republic | NF | 5 |
| ๐ฌ๐ถ Equatorial Guinea | NF | 5 |
| ๐ธ๐พ Syria | NF | 5 |
| ๐น๐ฏ Tajikistan | NF | 5 |
| ๐ด Western Sahara | NF | 4 |
| ๐ช๐ท Eritrea | NF | 3 |
| ๐ด North Korea | NF | 3 |
| ๐ด Gaza Strip | NF | 2 |
| ๐ธ๐ฉ Sudan | NF | 2 |
| ๐ธ๐ธ South Sudan | NF | 1 |
| ๐น๐ฒ Turkmenistan | NF | 1 |
| ๐ด Tibet | NF | 0 |
| ๐ด Russian-Occupied Territories of Ukraine | NF | -1 |
Finland ranks highest globally, supported by a multiparty system that mitigates voter polarization.
Following behind are New Zealand, Norway, and Swedenโeach with populations under six million. Notably, only two countries in the top 10 have medium-sized populations: the Netherlands (18 million) and Canada (39 million).
When it comes to the U.S., freedom continued to erode in 2024. In recent years, institutional trust has plunged to near record lows. Political polarization has deepened alongside growing income inequality, further weakening public confidence.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh recorded one of the biggest gains. In 2024, mass protests ousted Sheikh Hasinaโs 15-year regime. Under interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, reforms aimed at curbing corruption and expanding welfare are now underway.
To learn more about this topic from a democratic perspective, check out thisย graphicย on the state of democracy by country in 2024.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/09/2025 – 23:00
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