Name: Social hostilities involving religion around the world in 2023
Creator: Pew Research Center
Published: 2026-06-12
License: https://www.pewresearch.org/terms-and-conditions/

About this research

This is Pew Research Center’s 16th annual report on levels of restrictions on religion around the world. It scores 198 countries and territories on two separate indexes:

The Government Restrictions Index (GRI) measures actions by government officials at all levels that restrict religious beliefs and practices. Government restrictions include laws, policies and pronouncements that ban or limit religious beliefs or practices. A few examples are: barring a religious group from holding worship services; outlawing certain types of religious attire; and favoring or punishing religious groups through public funding.
The Social Hostilities Index (SHI) measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, groups or organizations. Social hostilities include harassment (whether physical or nonphysical), mob violence, militant activity, terrorism and disparaging statements that are motivated by religion or target religious groups. A few examples are: vandalism of religious sites; harassment of individuals because of their religious clothing; and physical attacks on people involved in religious conversions or proselytizing.

To create these indexes, researchers annually comb through publicly available, widely cited sources of information, including publications by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the United Nations, and several independent, nongovernmental organizations such as the International Crisis Group, Freedom House, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

To learn more about how Pew Research Center tracks restrictions on religion, read the Methodology.

This analysis was produced by Pew Research Center as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Funding for the Global Religious Futures project comes from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation (grant 63095). This publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

In 2023, sub-Saharan Africa was the only major region in the world where median levels of both government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion decreased.

What is a median?

In this analysis, medians are used to help readers see overall patterns in the data. A median is the middle number in a list of figures sorted in ascending or descending order.

In this report, within each geographic region (and for all 198 countries and territories we study overall), our researchers list the relevant countries from lowest to highest based on index scores. The median score is the score of the middle country on the list.

For a region like sub-Saharan Africa, which has an even number of countries (48), we take the average of the two middle countries on the list. For sub-Saharan Africa, those are the countries whose index scores rank 24th and 25th in the region.

In three other large regions – Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East and North Africa – median levels of government restrictions and social hostilities rose in 2023.

In the Americas, the other major region covered by the study, the median score for government restrictions held steady while social hostilities ticked slightly upward.

Worldwide, the median scores of all 198 countries and territories across the five regions remained stable for the third year in a row at 3.0 out of 10 on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) and 1.6 out of 10 on the Social Hostilities Index (SHI).

The GRI consists of 20 indicators of how government officials, laws and policies restrict religion. The SHI consists of 13 indicators of religious hostilities by private individuals, groups and organizations, including terrorist groups.

The rest of this section describes how each of the study’s large regions fared on both indexes. It is part of a wider Pew Research Center study of restrictions on religion around the world in 2023. Read the report overview for a broader understanding of the study’s key findings.

Government restrictions on religion, by region

In 2023, the median GRI scores in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East-North Africa region were as high as, or higher than, they have been since the study began in 2007.

In the Middle East and North Africa, the median GRI score rose from 6.1 in 2022 to 6.2 in 2023, tying with the region’s previous peak scores in 2012 and 2018. As in all previous years of the study, the Middle East and North Africa had the highest median GRI score of any region in the world.

Several factors contributed to the region’s high scores. All 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa had at least one case of government harassment of religious groups (verbal and/or physical) reported in 2023 by the sources used in this study. For more details, refer to the Methodology and the report’s discussion of government harassment.

Half of the countries in the Middle East-North Africa region also had restrictions related to religious dress, an increase from eight countries with such cases in 2022 to 10 in 2023. In Jordan, for example, Jewish travelers reported facing hurdles at border crossings when they dressed in ways that revealed their religion. In April, one traveler said he was not allowed to cross the border because he did not agree to hide or cut his side curls (facial hair typically worn by ultra-Orthodox Jewish men). Jordanian authorities reportedly told other travelers it was not safe to “display characteristics that identified them as Jewish” such as a kippah, a traditional skullcap for men, according to the State Department.

Meanwhile, Morocco formally has maintained a ban on the import, production and sale of burqas – Islamic face coverings for women – since 2017. The government deemed the ban necessary for security reasons so officials could identify wearers. Additionally, burqas were forbidden for police officers, women in the Moroccan army and television news presenters, though private individuals were still able to wear them, according to the U.S. State Department’s annual report on international religious freedom.

The Asia-Pacific region’s median GRI score rose from 4.6 in 2022 to 4.7 in 2023, the highest it has been since the study began in 2007. This region contains 50 countries and territories, including places with some of the highest GRI scores in the world, such as China, Iran, Afghanistan and Indonesia.

In 2023, nine countries in Asia and the Pacific sought to eliminate the presence of a religious group, according to the sources used in this study. In Vietnam, authorities tried to force followers of Duong Van Minh (who are mainly from the ethnic Hmong community) to renounce their faith through repeated intimidation and physical harassment. Authorities broke into followers’ homes and destroyed their altars after the 2021 death and funeral of Duong Van Minh. In 2023, Vietnam’s government claimed to have eliminated “the Duong Van Minh evil-way religion’s influence” in several provinces.

Meanwhile, the military in nearby Myanmar (also called Burma) continued to target Rohingya Muslims in what several international organizations and foreign governments, including the U.S. State Department, previously described as a campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity.

In addition, the Asia-Pacific region had an uptick in the number of countries and territories (from 44 in 2022 to 46 in 2023) where government harassment of religious groups was reported. There also was a small rise in the number of Asia-Pacific countries whose governments used violence against religious minorities (from 26 to 28).

Europe’s median score on the GRI rose from 2.9 in 2022 to 3.2 in 2023, its highest median GRI score since the study began in 2007. The increase resulted in part from growth in the number of European countries whose governments reportedly failed to protect religious groups or provide redress for religious discrimination (up from 16 countries in 2022 to 24 in 2023).

For example, in Norway, Jewish community leaders expressed frustration that police did not respond adequately to cases of harassment and were reluctant to bring charges under antisemitism or hate crime statues, which can increase sentences. And in Germany, where Jehovah’s Witnesses experienced hostility over their proselytizing activities, authorities allegedly did not take hate crimes against the group seriously. Jehovah’s Witnesses said police did not show interest in investigating complaints they filed.

More than half of the countries in the region (25 out of 45) also had incidents of physical harassment by governments toward religious groups. This was up from 22 countries in 2022. (Refer to the report’s discussion of harassment of religious groups for more examples.)

On the other hand, sub-Saharan Africa’s median GRI score declined from 3.0 in 2022 to 2.7 in 2023. Fewer countries across the region had cases of physical harassment by governments against religious groups (26, down from 30 countries in 2022).

And in the Americas, the median GRI score remained the same between 2022 and 2023, at 1.8 out of 10. This was the lowest median score of all five regions studied.

Four of the world’s five major geographic regions had overall increases on the Social Hostilities Index (SHI) in 2023: the Americas, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East-North Africa region. Sub-Saharan Africa was the only region to register a decrease.

The median SHI score in the Middle East-North Africa region went up to 4.5 in 2023 from 4.2 in 2022. The increase was partially driven by a rising number of countries (seven, up from two) that experienced religion-related mob violence.

For example, in the Palestinian territories in February, a Palestinian gunman killed two men from the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha, according to media reports. In retaliation, about 400 Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian town of Huwara, resulting in one death, hundreds of injuries and destruction of property.⁹ (Both attacks counted as social hostilities in the Palestinian territories because they occurred in the West Bank.)

Meanwhile, in southern Tunisia, the historic El Hamma Synagogue, which includes the tomb of a 16th-century rabbi, was attacked in mid-October by hundreds of rioters. The attackers torched the building and defaced its walls with graffiti, reportedly to protest a hospital bombing in Gaza. At year’s end, Tunisian authorities had not arrested anyone for the attack.

The Asia-Pacific region’s median SHI score rose from 1.9 in 2022 to 2.5 in 2023, the second-highest score recorded for the region since 2007. (The peak was 2.9 in 2012.)

As in the Middle East-North Africa region, more Asia-Pacific countries had incidents of mob violence against religious groups in 2023 (eight) than in 2022 (three). In Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, for example, violent clashes occurred at the disputed Kurunthoormalai archaeological site, which both Buddhists and Hindus claim as the location of ancient temples belonging to their respective faiths. In mid-July, about 100 Sinhalese protesters (members of a Sri Lankan ethno-religious group that is mostly Buddhist) along with Buddhist monks, police officers and other officials tried to stop a Hindu ceremony at the site on the grounds that fire used in the ceremony would cause damage. Police stopped the fire and removed people from the site.

In Armenia, which we include in Asia, there was mob violence against Jehovah’s Witnesses. In June, a large group of protesters attempted to interrupt a regional meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses at a stadium by blasting noise through loudspeakers and throwing objects such as stones, firecrackers and food.

Europe’s median SHI score increased from 1.7 in 2022 to 2.0 in 2023, partly because five more countries had religion-related terrorist activity than in the previous year. (All of these cases involved three or fewer casualties.) In Belgium, a Tunisian man fatally shot two Swedish citizens and injured another at a soccer match. The attacker, who claimed membership in the Islamic State group (ISIS), shared a video saying he was seeking to avenge recent burnings of the Quran in Sweden.

In another incident, a French citizen of Iranian descent killed a German tourist and injured two others near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, later telling police he acted in revenge for events in Gaza and the killing of Muslims in Afghanistan. The attacker reportedly had pledged allegiance to the militant group ISIS in a prerecorded video, and after the attack he told police he was angry that France was an “accomplice to what Israel is doing” in Gaza. (This study categorizes an attack as religion-related if the perpetrators target a religious group or claim religious motivations. In determining whether the perpetrators belong to a terrorist group, the study relies primarily on the U.S. State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.)

The median SHI score for the Americas increased from 0.6 to 0.8, matching the region’s previous peak scores recorded in 2020 and 2021 – although in 2023 the Americas continued to have the lowest median score among all five regions. The small year-over-year increase stemmed, in part, from a rise in the number of countries in which religious groups conducted or helped fund “conversion therapy” programs in which violence was used in an attempt to coerce people to become heterosexual.¹⁰

In Guatemala, for example, the U.S. State Department reported that conversion therapy centers in mostly rural parts of the country, partially funded and organized by evangelical churches, used tactics including electroshock therapy and coerced sex acts against lesbian, gay and transgender people. (The increase in SHI scores in the Americas reflects mentions of conversion therapy, since 2022, in the State Department Human Rights Reports.)

Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa’s median SHI score declined slightly from 1.6 to 1.5. This was the only region to experience declines in median levels on both the SHI and GRI in 2023. Still, the region contained the country with the world’s highest SHI score – Nigeria, whose score was 9.0, up from 8.7 the previous year.

Nigeria saw a rise in the number of deaths from attacks by the militant groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, who targeted both Christians and Muslims, according to the U.S. State Department. Multiple, violent clashes between mainly Muslim herders and Christian farmers over land and resources in Nigeria also had an ethno-religious component. Additionally, there were attacks on religious groups by Nigerian bandits and criminal gangs during the course of the year.

The killing of the two Jewish men from Har Bracha was categorized on the SHI as physical harassment of a religious group, while the retaliatory attack on Huwara was categorized as religion-related mob violence.↩

Incidents in which religious groups or individuals use violence or threats of violence to enforce some type of religious norm are categorized as social hostilities (refer to SHI.Q.9 in Appendix D or download the dataset to refer to it in the Codebook used in this study).↩

Region	Country	GRI Category	2023 GRI Score
Americas	Antigua and Barbuda	Low	0.5
Americas	Argentina	Moderate	2.8
Americas	Bahamas	Moderate	2.9
Americas	Barbados	Low	1.7
Americas	Belize	Low	1.4
Americas	Bolivia	Low	0.8
Americas	Brazil	Low	2.3
Americas	Canada	Low	2.1
Americas	Chile	Low	1.6
Americas	Colombia	Low	1.4
Americas	Costa Rica	Moderate	2.6
Americas	Cuba	High	4.5
Americas	Dominica	Low	1.3
Americas	Dominican Republic	Low	1.5
Americas	Ecuador	Low	1.8
Americas	El Salvador	Low	1.8
Americas	Grenada	Low	1.8
Americas	Guatemala	Moderate	2.7
Americas	Guyana	Low	1.9
Americas	Haiti	Moderate	2.7
Americas	Honduras	Low	1.2
Americas	Jamaica	Moderate	2.5
Americas	Mexico	Moderate	4.4
Americas	Nicaragua	Moderate	4.2
Americas	Panama	Low	1.6
Americas	Paraguay	Low	1.9
Americas	Peru	Low	1.9
Americas	St. Kitts and Nevis	Low	1.1
Americas	St. Lucia	Low	1.7
Americas	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Low	1.2
Americas	Suriname	Low	1.3
Americas	Trinidad and Tobago	Low	1.6
Americas	United States	Low	2.1
Americas	Uruguay	Low	1.6
Americas	Venezuela	Moderate	2.7
Asia-Pacific	Afghanistan	Very high	8.7
Asia-Pacific	Armenia	High	4.6
Asia-Pacific	Australia	Low	2.3
Asia-Pacific	Azerbaijan	Very high	7.3
Asia-Pacific	Bangladesh	High	5.5
Asia-Pacific	Bhutan	High	4.7
Asia-Pacific	Brunei	Very high	6.6
Asia-Pacific	Cambodia	High	5
Asia-Pacific	China	Very high	9.1
Asia-Pacific	Cyprus	Moderate	2.8
Asia-Pacific	East Timor	Low	1.1
Asia-Pacific	Fiji	Moderate	2.6
Asia-Pacific	Hong Kong	Moderate	3.6
Asia-Pacific	India	High	6.4
Asia-Pacific	Indonesia	Very high	7.9
Asia-Pacific	Iran	Very high	8.7
Asia-Pacific	Japan	Low	1.3
Asia-Pacific	Kazakhstan	High	6.5
Asia-Pacific	Kiribati	Low	1.4
Asia-Pacific	Kyrgyzstan	High	5.9
Asia-Pacific	Laos	Very high	6.7
Asia-Pacific	Macao	Low	1.2
Asia-Pacific	Malaysia	Very high	7.7
Asia-Pacific	Maldives	Very high	7.6
Asia-Pacific	Marshall Islands	Low	0.4
Asia-Pacific	Micronesia, Federated States	Low	0.4
Asia-Pacific	Mongolia	Moderate	3.1
Asia-Pacific	Myanmar	Very high	7.3
Asia-Pacific	Nauru	Low	1.8
Asia-Pacific	Nepal	High	5.4
Asia-Pacific	New Zealand	Low	0.9
Asia-Pacific	Pakistan	Very high	7.1
Asia-Pacific	Palau	Low	0.5
Asia-Pacific	Papua New Guinea	Low	1.4
Asia-Pacific	Philippines	Low	2
Asia-Pacific	Samoa	Low	1
Asia-Pacific	Singapore	Very high	6.7
Asia-Pacific	Solomon Islands	Low	0.9
Asia-Pacific	South Korea	Moderate	2.5
Asia-Pacific	Sri Lanka	High	5.9
Asia-Pacific	Taiwan	Low	1
Asia-Pacific	Tajikistan	High	6.4
Asia-Pacific	Thailand	High	4.6
Asia-Pacific	Tonga	Low	1.8
Asia-Pacific	Turkey	High	6.3
Asia-Pacific	Turkmenistan	High	6.5
Asia-Pacific	Tuvalu	Moderate	2.6
Asia-Pacific	Uzbekistan	Very high	7.8
Asia-Pacific	Vanuatu	Low	1.6
Asia-Pacific	Vietnam	Very high	7.3
Europe	Albania	Low	1.8
Europe	Andorra	Moderate	2.6
Europe	Austria	Moderate	3.8
Europe	Belarus	Very high	6.6
Europe	Belgium	Moderate	2.8
Europe	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Moderate	3.3
Europe	Bulgaria	High	5.5
Europe	Croatia	Low	2
Europe	Czech Republic	Low	2.2
Europe	Denmark	Moderate	4.2
Europe	Estonia	Low	1
Europe	Finland	Moderate	3.5
Europe	France	High	5.5
Europe	Georgia	Moderate	4.1
Europe	Germany	Moderate	4
Europe	Greece	High	4.7
Europe	Hungary	Low	2.2
Europe	Iceland	Moderate	3.6
Europe	Ireland	Low	1.1
Europe	Italy	Moderate	2.9
Europe	Kosovo	Moderate	3.4
Europe	Latvia	Moderate	2.9
Europe	Liechtenstein	Low	2
Europe	Lithuania	Moderate	3
Europe	Luxembourg	Moderate	2.4
Europe	Malta	Low	1.9
Europe	Moldova	High	5.4
Europe	Monaco	Low	1.4
Europe	Montenegro	Moderate	2.7
Europe	Netherlands	Moderate	3
Europe	North Macedonia	Moderate	3.5
Europe	Norway	Moderate	3.7
Europe	Poland	Moderate	3.2
Europe	Portugal	Low	0.6
Europe	Romania	High	4.8
Europe	Russia	Very high	7.7
Europe	San Marino	Low	0.6
Europe	Serbia	Moderate	3
Europe	Slovakia	Moderate	3.8
Europe	Slovenia	Low	2.3
Europe	Spain	Low	2
Europe	Sweden	Moderate	3.6
Europe	Switzerland	Moderate	4.1
Europe	Ukraine	High	6.1
Europe	United Kingdom	Moderate	3.2
Middle East-North Africa	Algeria	Very high	7
Middle East-North Africa	Bahrain	High	5.9
Middle East-North Africa	Egypt	Very high	7.7
Middle East-North Africa	Iraq	Very high	6.6
Middle East-North Africa	Israel	Very high	7.5
Middle East-North Africa	Jordan	High	6.4
Middle East-North Africa	Kuwait	High	6.2
Middle East-North Africa	Lebanon	Moderate	4.1
Middle East-North Africa	Libya	High	6.1
Middle East-North Africa	Morocco	Very high	7
Middle East-North Africa	Oman	High	5.1
Middle East-North Africa	Palestinian territories	Moderate	3.9
Middle East-North Africa	Qatar	Very high	6.6
Middle East-North Africa	Saudi Arabia	Very high	7.4
Middle East-North Africa	Sudan	Moderate	3.9
Middle East-North Africa	Syria	Very high	7.8
Middle East-North Africa	Tunisia	High	5.8
Middle East-North Africa	United Arab Emirates	High	6.3
Middle East-North Africa	Western Sahara	High	6.1
Middle East-North Africa	Yemen	High	6.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Angola	Moderate	4.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Benin	Low	1.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Botswana	Low	1.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Burkina Faso	Moderate	3.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Burundi	Moderate	3.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Cameroon	Moderate	3.9
Sub-Saharan Africa	Cape Verde	Low	1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Central African Republic	Moderate	4.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Chad	Moderate	3.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Comoros	High	4.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Congo, Dem. Rep.	Moderate	3.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Congo, Rep.	Moderate	2.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Djibouti	Moderate	3.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Equatorial Guinea	Moderate	4.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Eritrea	High	5.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Eswatini	Moderate	3.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Ethiopia	Moderate	4.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Gabon	Low	1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Gambia	Low	1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Ghana	Low	1.4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Guinea	Moderate	3.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Guinea-Bissau	Low	1.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Ivory Coast	Low	1.4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Kenya	Moderate	2.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Lesotho	Moderate	2.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Liberia	Low	2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Madagascar	Moderate	3.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Malawi	Moderate	2.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mali	Moderate	3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mauritania	Very high	6.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mauritius	Low	2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mozambique	Moderate	2.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Namibia	Low	1.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Niger	Moderate	3.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Nigeria	High	4.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Rwanda	Moderate	4.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Sao Tome and Principe	Low	1.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Senegal	Low	1.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Seychelles	Moderate	2.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Sierra Leone	Low	2.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Somalia	High	5.4
Sub-Saharan Africa	South Africa	Low	1.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	South Sudan	Moderate	2.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Tanzania	Moderate	4.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Togo	Moderate	2.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Uganda	Moderate	3.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Zambia	Low	2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Zimbabwe	Moderate	2.7

Region	Country	SHI Category	2023 SHI Score
Americas	Antigua and Barbuda	Low	0
Americas	Argentina	Moderate	2.4
Americas	Bahamas	Low	0.1
Americas	Barbados	Low	0.1
Americas	Belize	Low	1.1
Americas	Bolivia	Low	0.8
Americas	Brazil	High	4.7
Americas	Canada	Moderate	3.3
Americas	Chile	Moderate	1.5
Americas	Colombia	Moderate	1.9
Americas	Costa Rica	Low	0.1
Americas	Cuba	Low	1
Americas	Dominica	Low	0
Americas	Dominican Republic	Low	0.8
Americas	Ecuador	Low	0.9
Americas	El Salvador	Low	1.1
Americas	Grenada	Low	0
Americas	Guatemala	High	3.8
Americas	Guyana	Low	0.1
Americas	Haiti	High	4.4
Americas	Honduras	Low	0.7
Americas	Jamaica	Low	0.8
Americas	Mexico	High	4.7
Americas	Nicaragua	Low	0.2
Americas	Panama	Low	0.8
Americas	Paraguay	Low	1
Americas	Peru	Low	0.4
Americas	St. Kitts and Nevis	Low	0.1
Americas	St. Lucia	Low	0.1
Americas	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Low	0
Americas	Suriname	Low	0
Americas	Trinidad and Tobago	Low	1
Americas	United States	Low	1.3
Americas	Uruguay	Low	1.1
Americas	Venezuela	Low	0.7
Asia-Pacific	Afghanistan	High	7
Asia-Pacific	Armenia	High	4.5
Asia-Pacific	Australia	Low	1.2
Asia-Pacific	Azerbaijan	Low	0.8
Asia-Pacific	Bangladesh	Very high	7.8
Asia-Pacific	Bhutan	Low	1.1
Asia-Pacific	Brunei	Moderate	2
Asia-Pacific	Cambodia	Low	0.2
Asia-Pacific	China	Low	0.1
Asia-Pacific	Cyprus	High	5.4
Asia-Pacific	East Timor	Low	0.1
Asia-Pacific	Fiji	Low	0.4
Asia-Pacific	Hong Kong	Low	0.1
Asia-Pacific	India	Very high	8.8
Asia-Pacific	Indonesia	High	6
Asia-Pacific	Iran	High	5.8
Asia-Pacific	Japan	Moderate	2.6
Asia-Pacific	Kazakhstan	Moderate	2.8
Asia-Pacific	Kiribati	Moderate	1.5
Asia-Pacific	Kyrgyzstan	Moderate	2.6
Asia-Pacific	Laos	High	3.6
Asia-Pacific	Macao	Low	0.1
Asia-Pacific	Malaysia	Moderate	3.1
Asia-Pacific	Maldives	High	3.8
Asia-Pacific	Marshall Islands	Low	0.8
Asia-Pacific	Micronesia, Federated States	Low	0.2
Asia-Pacific	Mongolia	Low	0.8
Asia-Pacific	Myanmar	Moderate	3
Asia-Pacific	Nauru	Low	0
Asia-Pacific	Nepal	High	6.2
Asia-Pacific	New Zealand	Moderate	2.5
Asia-Pacific	Pakistan	Very high	7.5
Asia-Pacific	Palau	Low	0
Asia-Pacific	Papua New Guinea	Moderate	2.5
Asia-Pacific	Philippines	Moderate	2.9
Asia-Pacific	Samoa	Low	0.1
Asia-Pacific	Singapore	Low	1
Asia-Pacific	Solomon Islands	Low	0.3
Asia-Pacific	South Korea	Moderate	2.6
Asia-Pacific	Sri Lanka	High	6.3
Asia-Pacific	Taiwan	Low	0
Asia-Pacific	Tajikistan	Moderate	2
Asia-Pacific	Thailand	High	4.4
Asia-Pacific	Tonga	Low	0
Asia-Pacific	Turkey	High	4.3
Asia-Pacific	Turkmenistan	Moderate	3.5
Asia-Pacific	Tuvalu	Moderate	2.2
Asia-Pacific	Uzbekistan	Moderate	2.9
Asia-Pacific	Vanuatu	Low	0.3
Asia-Pacific	Vietnam	Moderate	2.6
Europe	Albania	Low	1.3
Europe	Andorra	Low	0
Europe	Austria	Moderate	3.4
Europe	Belarus	Low	0.2
Europe	Belgium	High	3.8
Europe	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Moderate	2.8
Europe	Bulgaria	Moderate	2.9
Europe	Croatia	Low	0.3
Europe	Czech Republic	Moderate	1.6
Europe	Denmark	Moderate	1.7
Europe	Estonia	Low	1.1
Europe	Finland	High	3.7
Europe	France	High	4.7
Europe	Georgia	High	4.4
Europe	Germany	High	4.4
Europe	Greece	Low	1.3
Europe	Hungary	Moderate	2
Europe	Iceland	Low	0.1
Europe	Ireland	Low	1.1
Europe	Italy	High	4
Europe	Kosovo	Moderate	3.5
Europe	Latvia	Low	0.7
Europe	Liechtenstein	Low	0.8
Europe	Lithuania	Low	1
Europe	Luxembourg	Low	0.1
Europe	Malta	Low	0
Europe	Moldova	Moderate	2.1
Europe	Monaco	Low	0
Europe	Montenegro	Low	1.4
Europe	Netherlands	Moderate	2.9
Europe	North Macedonia	Moderate	3.1
Europe	Norway	High	4.2
Europe	Poland	Low	1.4
Europe	Portugal	Low	0.2
Europe	Romania	Low	1.3
Europe	Russia	High	3.8
Europe	San Marino	Low	0
Europe	Serbia	Moderate	2.2
Europe	Slovakia	Moderate	2.3
Europe	Slovenia	Low	0.2
Europe	Spain	High	3.7
Europe	Sweden	High	4.5
Europe	Switzerland	Moderate	2.6
Europe	Ukraine	High	5.6
Europe	United Kingdom	Moderate	2.8
Middle East-North Africa	Algeria	High	3.9
Middle East-North Africa	Bahrain	Low	0.7
Middle East-North Africa	Egypt	High	7.1
Middle East-North Africa	Iraq	High	6.8
Middle East-North Africa	Israel	Very high	8.4
Middle East-North Africa	Jordan	High	4.9
Middle East-North Africa	Kuwait	Moderate	2.4
Middle East-North Africa	Lebanon	High	6.2
Middle East-North Africa	Libya	High	7.1
Middle East-North Africa	Morocco	Low	1
Middle East-North Africa	Oman	Moderate	2.1
Middle East-North Africa	Palestinian territories	High	6.7
Middle East-North Africa	Qatar	Low	1.2
Middle East-North Africa	Saudi Arabia	Moderate	2.9
Middle East-North Africa	Sudan	High	5.7
Middle East-North Africa	Syria	Very high	8.1
Middle East-North Africa	Tunisia	High	4.9
Middle East-North Africa	United Arab Emirates	Low	0.7
Middle East-North Africa	Western Sahara	Low	0
Middle East-North Africa	Yemen	High	4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Angola	Low	0.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Benin	Low	0.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Botswana	Low	0
Sub-Saharan Africa	Burkina Faso	High	6.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Burundi	Low	0.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Cameroon	High	6.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Cape Verde	Low	0
Sub-Saharan Africa	Central African Republic	High	5.4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Chad	Moderate	2.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Comoros	Low	0.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Congo, Democratic Republic	High	4.9
Sub-Saharan Africa	Congo, Republic	Low	0.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Djibouti	Low	0.4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Equatorial Guinea	Low	0.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Eritrea	Low	0.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Eswatini	Low	0.4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Ethiopia	Moderate	2.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Gabon	Low	0.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	Gambia	Moderate	3.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Ghana	Low	1.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Guinea	Moderate	2.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Guinea-Bissau	Moderate	1.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Ivory Coast	Moderate	1.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Kenya	High	4.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Lesotho	Low	0.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Liberia	High	5.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Madagascar	Moderate	1.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	Malawi	Low	1.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mali	High	5.6
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mauritania	Moderate	1.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mauritius	Low	1.3
Sub-Saharan Africa	Mozambique	High	4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Namibia	Low	0.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Niger	High	5.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Nigeria	Very high	9
Sub-Saharan Africa	Rwanda	Low	0
Sub-Saharan Africa	Sao Tome and Principe	Low	0
Sub-Saharan Africa	Senegal	Moderate	2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Seychelles	Low	0
Sub-Saharan Africa	Sierra Leone	High	3.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Somalia	High	4.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	South Africa	Moderate	1.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	South Sudan	Moderate	2.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Tanzania	High	4.4
Sub-Saharan Africa	Togo	Moderate	1.7
Sub-Saharan Africa	Uganda	High	4.2
Sub-Saharan Africa	Zambia	Low	1.1
Sub-Saharan Africa	Zimbabwe	Low	0.8

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More Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023

Restrictions on religion rose in most regions in 2023 but declined in sub-Saharan Africa

What is a median?

Government restrictions on religion, by region

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Year	Americas	Asia-Pacific	Europe	Middle East-North Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	World
2007	1.0	3.2	1.7	4.7	1.6	1.8
2008	0.9	3.7	2.0	5.3	1.1	1.9
2009	1.1	3.4	1.8	5.2	1.4	1.8
2010	1.2	3.4	2.3	5.9	1.9	2.6
2011	1.5	4.2	2.2	5.9	1.9	2.3
2012	1.5	3.5	2.6	6.2	1.7	2.4
2013	1.5	4.2	2.5	6.0	1.8	2.4
2014	1.6	3.7	2.6	5.4	1.5	2.5
2015	1.7	4.0	2.7	5.9	2.2	2.7
2016	2.2	4.0	2.7	6.1	2.5	2.8
2017	2.0	3.8	2.9	6.0	2.6	2.8
2018	2.0	4.4	2.8	6.2	2.7	2.9
2019	2.0	4.1	2.9	6.0	2.6	2.9
2020	2.0	4.2	2.9	5.9	2.6	2.8
2021	2.1	4.2	3.1	5.9	2.6	3.0
2022	1.8	4.6	2.9	6.1	3.0	3.0
2023	1.8	4.7	3.2	6.2	2.7	3.0

More Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023

Restrictions on religion rose in most regions in 2023 but declined in sub-Saharan Africa

What is a median?

Government restrictions on religion, by region

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Social hostilities involving religion, by region

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