3. Median scores for government restrictions and social hostilities stay the same in 2022
In 2022, global median scores on the Center’s Government Restrictions and Social Hostilities Indexes mirrored 2021. But some regions saw change since 2021.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
In 2022, global median scores on the Center’s Government Restrictions and Social Hostilities Indexes mirrored 2021. But some regions saw change since 2021.
CORRECTION (Dec. 19, 2025): Some of the text in Chapter 4 has been corrected with updated SHI figures for 2019. Germany is now described as experiencing a “modest decrease,” rather than a “large decline,” in its SHI score between 2019 and 2020. Refer to the errata page for details. More than 5 billion people – almost three-quarters of […]
Migration outpaced global population growth by 83% to 47% from 1990-2020. Buddhist and Muslim migrants more than doubled in number during this time.
A median of 76% of adults in the 24 countries surveyed say China does not take into account the interests of other countries in its foreign policy. Majorities in most countries also say China does not contribute to global peace and stability.
CORRECTION (Dec. 19, 2025): One chart and some of the text in this chapter have been revised to correct the SHI median scores for the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East-North Africa region for 2019. The median scores changed by 0.1 point for these regions in 2019. Refer to the errata page for details. Government restrictions on […]
This is the 15th time Pew Research Center has measured restrictions on religion around the globe.[12. numoffset=”12″ Refer to the Methodology of Pew Research Center’s 2009 report “Global Restrictions on Religion” for a discussion of the conceptual basis for measuring restrictions on religion.] This report, which includes data for the year ending Dec. 31, 2022, […]
Religious groups faced harassment by governments, social groups or individuals in 189 countries and territories in 2020. This was nearly the same as in 2019, when harassment of religious groups was reported in 190 countries and territories – the highest number since this tracking began in 2007. (These counts include all countries in which the […]
This is the 14th time Pew Research Center has measured restrictions on religion around the globe.[9. numoffset=”9″ Refer to the Methodology of Pew Research Center’s 2009 report “Global Restrictions on Religion” for a discussion of the conceptual basis for measuring restrictions on religion.] This report, which includes data for the year ending Dec. 31, 2021, […]
Nearly a quarter of countries used force to prevent religious gatherings during the pandemic; other government restrictions and social hostilities related to religion remained fairly stable.
CORRECTION (Dec. 19, 2025): One chart and some of the text in this chapter have been revised to correct the SHI scores for some countries. China is now described as experiencing a “modest” decrease rather than a “small” decrease in its SHI score between 2018 and 2019. Refer to the errata page for details. One way to […]
Notifications