Religious Restrictions Around the World
For more than a decade, Pew Research Center has been tracking global patterns in restrictions on religion – whether imposed by governments or by individuals or social groups. Scroll down to explore restrictions in 198 countries and territories, and see how each country’s restrictions have changed since 2007.
For more details on restrictions on religion around the world, read our latest report on the topic, “More Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023.”
Note: Government restrictions include laws, policies and actions by authorities that impinge on religious beliefs and practices, while social hostilities involving religion include actions by private individuals or groups in society that limit such practices.
Acknowledgments: This interactive is a collaborative effort by the following individuals: Chris Baronavski, Alan Cooperman, Jeff Diamant, Vivian Jacobs, David Kent, Jess Ludwig, Samirah Majumdar, Anne Fengyan Shi and Bill Webster. For a full list of contributors to the study, refer to the report Acknowledgments.
CORRECTION (June 15, 2026): This interactive has been updated to correct GRI scores in 2017 for six countries due to rounding discrepancies. The corrections result in small changes (no more than 0.1 point) to these countries’ scores. For a full list of changes, refer to the errata page.
RECOMMENDED CITATION:
Pew Research Center. 2026. “Religious Restrictions Around the World.” doi: 10.58094/btnb-r624.