These Are The Most (And Least) Free Countries Around The World

March 13, 2023 in News by RBN Staff

source:  zerohedge

 

BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, MAR 13, 2023 – 01:45 AM

Democracy watchdog organization Freedom House has released its annual ranking of the world’s most free and suppressed nations.

As Statista’s Anna Fleck notes, the report is considered a key barometer for global democracy and this year’s edition found that while global freedom has declined for the 17th year straight, the world may be headed towards a “possible turning point”, as the rate of decline is leveling off.

This partly comes down to the easing off of pandemic-related restrictions which had impacted freedom of assembly and freedom of movement, but there are still 57 out of the 195 studied countries reported as ‘Not Free’ in 2022.

Infographic: The State of Freedom In The World | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

That being said, the gap between the number of countries that registered overall improvements in political rights and civil liberties and those that have registered overall declines is the narrowest it has been since 2006.

The best scores in 2023 were recorded in Northern Europe with Sweden, Norway and Finland leading the way for freedom with scores of 100. The top-five was rounded off by New Zealand and Canada with the U.S. trailing with a score of 83.

Infographic: The Most & Least Free Countries Around the World | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

This year, the worst countries for freedom were Syria and South Sudan with a score of 1 each, followed by Turkmenistan with 2 and North Korea with 3.

When territories are included in the analysis, Freedom House placed Tibet and East Donbas among the lowest ranking regions with scores of 1 and 3, respectively.