Samirah Majumdar

In 2020, properties in 102 of the 198 countries and territories in the study were targeted in incidents tied to religion.

Our study analyzes 198 countries and territories and is based on policies and events in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available.

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.

For more than a decade, Pew Research Center has been tracking global patterns in restrictions on religion – both those imposed by governments and hostilities committed by individuals and social groups.

Around a fifth (21%) of the 198 countries evaluated banned at least one religion-related group in 2019, our analysis found.

Social hostilities around the world involving religion declined in 2019 to the lowest level in five years.

Social hostilities involving religion, including violence and harassment against religious groups by private individuals and groups, declined in 2019, according to Pew Research Center’s 12th annual study of global restrictions on religion, which examines 198 countries and territories.

Government restrictions in 2018 were at their highest level since 2007, when Pew Research Center began tracking these trends.

In 2018, the global median level of government restrictions on religion – that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that impinge on religious beliefs and practices – continued to climb, reaching an all-time high since Pew Research Center began tracking these trends in 2007.

The Center's tenth report on religious restrictions around the world focuses on trends in restrictions from 2007 to 2017.