{"id":70837,"date":"2021-09-30T09:42:30","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T14:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2021\/09\/30\/in-2019-decline-in-number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T16:23:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T21:23:47","slug":"in-2019-decline-in-number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/in-2019-decline-in-number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"1. In 2019, decline in number of countries with \u2018very high\u2019 government restrictions, social hostilities involving religion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CORRECTION (Dec. 19, 2025): Two charts and some of the text in Chapter 1 have been corrected with updated SHI figures. Refer to the <\/em>errata page<\/em><\/a> for details. <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Countries with the most extensive government restrictions on religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Government restrictions on religion vary from country to country, and some countries have much higher scores on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) than others. While all 198 countries and territories included in this study had at least some <\/em>restrictions on religious activity in 2019, those with higher GRI scores imposed a wider variety of restrictions, or implemented them more severely, or did both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, 23 of the 198 countries and territories had \u201cvery high\u201d levels of government restrictions on religion, a decrease from 26 in 2018. This is the second year in a row that the overall number of countries in the \u201cvery high\u201d category has decreased, with the 2019 figure falling to its lowest point since 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, however, the number of countries with \u201chigh\u201d levels of government restrictions rose by four, from 30 in 2018 to 34 in 2019. Taken together, the number of countries that experienced either \u201chigh\u201d or<\/em> \u201cvery high\u201d levels of government restrictions in 2019 increased by one to 57, matching the study\u2019s record high from 2012. (For details about the thresholds for the \u201cvery high\u201d and \u201chigh\u201d categories, see Methodology<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five countries and territories \u2013 Mauritania, Morocco, Vietnam, Western Sahara and Yemen \u2013 moved from the \u201cvery high\u201d into the \u201chigh\u201d category in 2019. GRI scores for Morocco, Western Sahara and Vietnam fell by at least one whole point on the index, while Mauritania and Yemen had small decreases of less than a point.[24. numoffset=”24″ When examining government restrictions in Western Sahara, this report also considers activity by the Moroccan government, which has de facto control over much of Western Sahara. Morocco and Western Sahara are examined separately when it comes to social hostilities. See Methodology<\/a> for more details.] For example, Morocco\u2019s GRI score dropped from 7.2 to 6.2 in part because there were no reports of the government detaining religious minorities in 2019, unlike in 2018 when authorities detained and questioned a Christian and Shiite Muslims.[25. U.S. Department of State. June 2019. \u201cMorocco<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2018.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two countries \u2013 Sudan and Kyrgyzstan \u2013 moved into the \u201cvery high\u201d category of government restrictions in 2019. Sudan has been in either the \u201chigh\u201d or \u201cvery high\u201d category every year since the beginning of the study, but this is the first time Kyrgyzstan has been in the \u201cvery high\u201d category. Kyrgyzstan reached this level in 2019 (climbing to 6.6 on the index, up from 6.5 in 2018) largely due to increased detentions of suspected Islamists, and also because of reported raids of homes where banned religious groups \u2013 such as Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses and the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir \u2013 were believed to be meeting.[26. U.S. Department of State. June 2020. \u201cKyrgyz Republic<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2019. See also Freedom House. February 2020. \u201cKyrgyzstan<\/a>.\u201d Freedom in the World 2019.] In Sudan, meanwhile, during the anti-government protests that led to the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir, government forces targeted mosques associated with the political opposition, as well as members of religious minority groups such as Shiite Muslims, who were questioned about their faith by security officials. During this time, Sudanese authorities used rubber bullets, tear gas and, in some cases, live ammunition to disperse worshippers at mosques where protests were being held; forces also beat, arrested or threatened some worshippers and protesters.[27. U.S. Department of State. June 2020. \u201cSudan<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2019.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a complete list of all countries in each category, see the Government Restrictions Index table in Appendix A<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Countries with the most extensive social hostilities involving religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Countries<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As with government restrictions on religion, social hostilities related to religion vary from country to country. The Social Hostilities Index (SHI) captures a wide range of activities, including but not limited to mob violence against religious minorities, individual assaults on people of particular faiths and incidents of terrorism carried out in the name of religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far fewer countries score \u201cvery high\u201d on the SHI than on the GRI. In 2019, eight of the 198 countries in the study had \u201cvery high\u201d levels of social hostilities involving religion \u2013 the lowest figure in more than a decade, and two fewer than in 2018. The annual decrease reflected the movement of two countries, Egypt and the Central African Republic, from the \u201cvery high\u201d category of the SHI in 2018 into the \u201chigh\u201d category in 2019. Even with these two countries moving into the \u201chigh\u201d category, the total number of countries categorized as having \u201chigh\u201d levels of social hostilities dropped by eight, from 43 in 2018 to 35 in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a complete list of all countries in each category, see the Social Hostilities Index table in Appendix B<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Changes in government restrictions on religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Majority<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This study also tracks how each country\u2019s index score changes from year to year for government restrictions and social hostilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, 59 countries had increases<\/em> of 0.1 or more in their GRI scores, while 65 countries had decreases<\/em> of 0.1 or more. This is in contrast with the previous year, when there were more countries with increases than decreases.[28. An index score that varies by less than 0.1 from one year to the next is considered unchanged. Changes in scores of between 0.1 and 0.9 are categorized as \u201csmall.\u201d Changes of between 1.0 and 1.9 points are considered \u201cmodest,\u201d and changes of 2.0 points or more are described as \u201clarge.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourteen countries had modest changes (1.0 to 1.9 points) in their GRI scores, with eight decreases and six increases within this range. Sri Lanka experienced the biggest change in its GRI score of any country in 2019 \u2013 an increase of 1.8 points. The rise in Sri Lanka\u2019s score reflected a slate of new restrictions imposed by the Sri Lankan government after suicide bombings targeted churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday, killing more than 250 people. Following the attacks, the government declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned face coverings, a move that largely impacted Muslim women and led to heightened harassment of Muslims by security forces.[29. U.S. Department of State. June 2020. \u201cSri Lanka<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2019.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A majority of countries (110 out of 198) experienced small changes (between 0.1 and 0.9) in their GRI scores, including 57 decreases and 53 increases. In addition, 74 countries had no change in their overall GRI scores in 2019. No countries had large changes (2.0 or more points) in their GRI scores in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes in social hostilities involving religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"On<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, 90 countries experienced decreases of at least 0.1 in their scores on the Social Hostilities Index, while 56 countries had increases of at least 0.1, and 52 had no change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six countries saw large changes (2.0 or more points) in their SHI scores in 2019. In five of these countries \u2013 Armenia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and Romania \u2013 the scores went down. Armenia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan and Romania moved from the \u201chigh\u201d to the \u201cmoderate\u201d category. Malaysia remained in the \u201chigh\u201d category even though its score fell from 6.4 in 2018 to 3.8 in 2019, shifting from near the upper bound of the \u201chigh\u201d range toward the lower bound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for these changes varied. In Armenia, for example, there were no reported incidents of harassment against Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in 2019; during the previous year, members of that group had reported to police that they were verbally abused and had their literature display carts overturned.[30. U.S. Department of State. June 2019. \u201cArmenia<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2018.] And in Greece, where an anarchist group claimed responsibility for a bomb explosion outside a church that injured multiple people in 2018, no terrorist incidents related to religion were reported in 2019.[31. U.S. Department of State. June 2020. \u201cGreece<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2019.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one country, Burkina Faso, experienced a large increase <\/em>in social hostilities in 2019, moving from the \u201cmoderate\u201d to the \u201chigh\u201d category on the SHI. Multiple attacks on Christians and Muslims by Islamist militant groups, including the Islamic State in Greater Sahara and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, led to several dozen deaths and exacerbated religious tensions in the West African country.[32. U.S. Department of State. June 2020. \u201cBurkina Faso<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2019.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-two countries had modest changes (between 1.0 and 1.9 points) in their SHI scores, with 33 of them experiencing modest decreases and nine experiencing modest increases. For example, in Uruguay, where the index score fell from 2.0 in 2018 to 0.7 in 2019, fewer incidents of vandalism of Christian churches were reported in 2019.[33. U.S. Department of State. June 2020. \u201cUruguay<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2019.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half the countries studied (98) experienced small changes in their SHI scores (between 0.1 and 0.9), 52 of which were decreases and 46 of which were increases. There were no changes to SHI scores in 52 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes in overall restrictions on religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Overall<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To provide a more sweeping, high-level view of how religious restrictions are changing around the world each year, Pew Research Center combines the scores on the Government Restrictions and Social Hostilities Indexes into an overall annual score for each country. In 2019, 65 countries experienced increases in their overall scores, while 98 experienced decreases and 35 countries had no change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 65 countries with increases<\/em> in their overall scores, 54 countries experienced small increases (between 0.1 and 0.9), while 10 had modest increases (1.0 to 1.9 points). Just one country, Burkina Faso, had a large increase in its overall score (2.0 or more points).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 98 countries with decreases<\/em> in their overall scores, 61 had small decreases (between 0.1 and 0.9), while 32 had modest decreases (1.0 to 1.9 points). Five countries \u2013 Armenia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Romania and Malaysia \u2013 had large decreases (2.0 points or more) in their overall scores. In Malaysia, there were no reports of mob violence against religious groups in the sources used by this study in 2019, unlike in 2018, when a group of 200 masked individuals injured at least a dozen people while attempting to forcibly remove worshippers from a Hindu temple.[34. U.S. Department of State. June 2019. \u201cMalaysia<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2018.] In Romania, there were no reported instances of physical assaults on Muslim women in 2019, unlike in previous years. Additionally, 2019 was the third consecutive year there were no reports of public events with anti-Semitic themes held by groups associated with the Legionnaire Movement, a far-right political party active in Romania between 1927 and 1941.[35. U.S. Department of State. August 2017. \u201cRomania<\/a>.\u201d International Religious Freedom Report for 2016. Some measures for social hostilities include data from the main year being examined, as well as from the two previous years to capture the impact of ongoing hostilities.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CORRECTION (Dec. 19, 2025): Two charts and some of the text in Chapter 1 have been corrected with updated SHI figures. Refer to the errata page for details.  Countries with the most extensive government restrictions on religion Government restrictions on religion vary from country to country, and some countries have much higher scores on the Government Restrictions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":false,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[173,412],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[2856],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,516,514,513,510,505,512,511],"research-teams":[517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-70837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-religious-freedom-restrictions","category-pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-project","datasets-dataset-global-restrictions-on-religion-2007-2022","formats-report","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-europe-russia","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-latin-america","regions-countries-middle-east-north-africa","regions-countries-multiple-regions-worldwide","regions-countries-north-america","regions-countries-sub-saharan-africa","research-teams-religion"],"label":false,"post_parent":70820,"word_count":1696,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/in-2019-decline-in-number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":"81933","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":"81933","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":"81933","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":"81933","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":"81933","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":"81933","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/featured_GRI_SHI_medians640px.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":70820,"title":"Globally, Social Hostilities Related to Religion Decline in 2019, While Government Restrictions Remain at Highest Levels","slug":"globally-social-hostilities-related-to-religion-decline-in-2019-while-government-restrictions-remain-at-highest-levels","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/globally-social-hostilities-related-to-religion-decline-in-2019-while-government-restrictions-remain-at-highest-levels\/","is_active":false},{"id":70837,"title":"1. In 2019, decline in number of countries with \u2018very high\u2019 government restrictions, social hostilities involving religion","slug":"in-2019-decline-in-number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/in-2019-decline-in-number-of-countries-with-very-high-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion\/","is_active":true},{"id":70867,"title":"2. Harassment of religious groups reaches new peak in 2019","slug":"harassment-of-religious-groups-reaches-new-peak-in-2019","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/harassment-of-religious-groups-reaches-new-peak-in-2019\/","is_active":false},{"id":70859,"title":"3. Median index scores for government restrictions, social hostilities involving religion declined or remained stable in most regions in 2019","slug":"median-index-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-declined-or-remained-stable-in-most-regions-in-2019","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/median-index-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-declined-or-remained-stable-in-most-regions-in-2019\/","is_active":false},{"id":70848,"title":"4. Restrictions on religion in the world\u2019s 25 most populous countries in 2019","slug":"restrictions-on-religion-in-the-worlds-25-most-populous-countries-in-2019","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/restrictions-on-religion-in-the-worlds-25-most-populous-countries-in-2019\/","is_active":false},{"id":70876,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"acknowledgments-57-2","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/acknowledgments-57-2\/","is_active":false},{"id":70884,"title":"Methodology","slug":"methodology-42-4","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/methodology-42-4\/","is_active":false}],"report_materials":[{"key":"_4y9uz1qrr","type":"report","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/09\/PF_09.30.21_religious_restrictions-Full_PDF.pdf","label":"Report PDF","attachmentId":81931},{"key":"_795dsc3ie","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/PF_09.30.21_religious.restrictions_AppendixA.pdf","label":"Appendix A: Government Restrictions Index","icon":"supplemental"},{"key":"_j1mbmiepg","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/PF_09.30.21_religious.restrictions_AppendixB.pdf","label":"Appendix B: Social Hostilities Index","icon":"supplemental"},{"key":"_2zbgyztjr","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/PF_09.30.21_religious.restrictions_AppendixC.pdf","label":"Appendix C: Religious restrictions index scores by region","icon":"supplemental"},{"key":"_l3pa3hze0","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/09\/PF_09.30.21_religious.restrictions_AppendixD.pdf","label":"Appendix D: Summary of results","icon":"supplemental"},{"key":"_ae3j37r7m","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/PF_09.30.21_AppendixE.pdf","label":"Appendix E: Results by country","icon":"supplemental"},{"key":"_jpryfcvl3","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/feature\/religious-restrictions-around-the-world\/","label":"Interactive: Religious restrictions around the world","icon":"promo"},{"key":"_geetvzqik","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/12\/PR_2021.09.30_restrictions-on-religion-2019_errata.pdf","label":"Report errata","icon":"supplemental"},{"type":"dataset","id":2856,"label":"Dataset: Global Restrictions on Religion 2007-2022","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/dataset\/dataset-global-restrictions-on-religion-2007-2022\/"}],"report_pagination":{"current_post":{"id":70837,"title":"1. 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Median index scores for government restrictions, social hostilities involving religion declined or remained stable in most regions in 2019","slug":"median-index-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-declined-or-remained-stable-in-most-regions-in-2019","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/median-index-scores-for-government-restrictions-social-hostilities-involving-religion-declined-or-remained-stable-in-most-regions-in-2019\/","is_active":false,"page_num":4},{"id":70848,"title":"4. Restrictions on religion in the world\u2019s 25 most populous countries in 2019","slug":"restrictions-on-religion-in-the-worlds-25-most-populous-countries-in-2019","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/restrictions-on-religion-in-the-worlds-25-most-populous-countries-in-2019\/","is_active":false,"page_num":5},{"id":70876,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"acknowledgments-57-2","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/acknowledgments-57-2\/","is_active":false,"page_num":6},{"id":70884,"title":"Methodology","slug":"methodology-42-4","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/09\/30\/methodology-42-4\/","is_active":false,"page_num":7}]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Globally, Social Hostilities Related to Religion Decline in 2019, While Government Restrictions Remain at Highest Levels","parent_id":70820},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"In 2019, decline in number of countries with \u2018very high\u2019 government restrictions, social hostilities involving religion","description":"CORRECTION (Dec. 19, 2025): Two charts and some of the text in Chapter 1 have been corrected with updated SHI figures. 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