{"id":195897,"date":"2024-12-18T09:51:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T14:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=195897"},"modified":"2025-12-19T15:59:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T20:59:02","slug":"number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-increases-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2024\/12\/18\/number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-increases-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"1. Number of countries with \u2018very high\u2019 government restrictions increases in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Government restrictions on religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Government Restrictions Index (GRI) gives a score from 0.0 to 10.0 to each country and territory analyzed in this study based on how much they limit or control religious activity such as public preaching or worship, and how much they harass or use force against religious groups. The first section below discusses countries with the highest GRI scores (i.e., those with the most extensive levels of government restrictions in 2022) and countries with large changes in their GRI scores from the previous year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the 198 countries and territories analyzed in this study, 59 had either \u201chigh\u201d or \u201cvery high\u201d levels of government restrictions on religion in 2022.<\/strong> This figure was an increase from 55 countries in 2021 and a new peak level for the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of these countries, 24 had \u201cvery high\u201d scores on the GRI, an increase from 19 countries in 2021. And 35 countries had \u201chigh\u201d GRI scores, down from 36 countries the previous year. (A score of 4.5 to 6.5 \u2013 out of 10.0 \u2013 is classified as a \u201chigh\u201d score for a country, while a score of 6.6 to 10.0 is classified as \u201cvery high.\u201d For more information on how the \u201chigh\u201d and \u201cvery high\u201d categories are defined for the GRI, refer to the Methodology<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Countries with the most extensive government restrictions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Seven countries moved from the \u201chigh\u201d GRI category to the \u201cvery high\u201d category in 2022, including Iraq, Israel, Mauritania, Morocco, Turkey, Vietnam and Western Sahara. Most of these countries had small changes in their GRI scores (increases of 0.1 to 0.9 on the index) that pushed them from one category to the other. For example, Mauritania\u2019s score on the GRI rose by 0.5 points (from 6.1 to 6.6), due in part to the April arrest of a man in the border town of Rosso after his son brought Bibles and other Christian literature into Mauritania<\/a> across the country\u2019s border with Senegal. (The man claimed ownership of the materials as a way to deflect blame from his son, and was released from detention by the end of the year, according to the U.S. State Department.)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Table<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Israel\u2019s GRI score increased by 1.0 point in 2022, from 5.7 to 6.7, partly due to new reports of violations of prisoners\u2019 religious freedom, which said that Israeli authorities prevented prisoners from praying; ate in front of detainees while they were fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan; and removed the headscarves of women prisoners<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, both Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan moved in the other direction on the GRI, from the \u201cvery high\u201d category to \u201chigh.\u201d Kazakhstan\u2019s score fell by less than 1.0 point, from 7.0 to 6.3, while Turkmenistan\u2019s score fell by more than 2.0 points, from 7.1 to 4.8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Turkmenistan, unlike in the previous year, there were no reported arrests in 2022 of people for holding religious gatherings or for being conscientious objectors to military service<\/a>, according to the sources analyzed for the study. Although religious people in the country still faced harassment and many religious prisoners remained incarcerated in Turkmenistan, minority religious groups reported facing fewer barriers to practicing their faith freely. For example, there were improved relations with authorities and fewer hurdles to register as religious groups, according to the U.S. State Department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a full list of countries in each GRI category, refer to Appendix A<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes in scores on Government Restrictions Index<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, a total of 97 countries had increases of 0.1 point or more on the GRI, while 63 countries had decreases of 0.1 point or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Table<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looking at changes in classification, about two-thirds of the countries analyzed (134 out of 198) had small<\/em> changes (0.1 to 0.9) in their GRI scores in 2022: 85 were small increases, and 49 were small decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An additional 38 countries had no increase or decrease, while 25 had modest<\/em> changes (1.0 to 1.9 points) in 2022, including 12 with modest increases and 13 with modest decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only Turkmenistan had a large<\/em> decrease (2.0 points or more). No country had a large increase in its GRI in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n