1. Number of countries with very high restrictions and hostilities went down in 2014
Countries with the most extensive government restrictions on religion Most countries in the world have some form of government restrictions on religion, but each year a few countries stand out as having particularly extensive restrictions. In 2014, 16 of the 198 countries included in the study had a “very high” level of government restrictions, down […]
2. Harassment of specific religious groups: Christians and Muslims were harassed in the most countries in 2014
Harassment or intimidation of specific religious groups occurred in 159 countries in 2014, down somewhat from 2013 (164). The world’s two largest religious groups, Christians and Muslims, continued to be harassed in the most countries, and there was a notable increase in the number of countries in which Jews and Hindus were harassed. Harassment of […]
3. Middle East-North Africa was region with highest restrictions and hostilities in 2014
Government restrictions by region The median level of government restrictions on religion decreased in three of the five regions (Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa) and stayed roughly the same in two regions (the Americas and Europe). In the latest year studied, the Middle East and North Africa […]
4. Among the world’s 25 most populous countries, the highest overall restrictions on religion in 2014 were in Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey
Among the world’s 25 most populous countries (which contain 74% of the world’s population), Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey stand out as having the highest levels restrictions on religion (as of the end of 2014) when both government restrictions and social hostilities are taken into account.33 Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Japan, the […]
Acknowledgments
This report 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. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This report was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which received […]
Methodology
This is the seventh time Pew Research Center has measured restrictions on religion around the globe.34 This report, which includes data for the year ending Dec. 31, 2014, generally follows the same methodology as previous reports. Pew Research Center uses two 10-point indexes – the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) and the Social Hostilities Index (SHI) […]
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