Global Religious Freedom Data Spectrum
The Global Religious Freedom Data Spectrum aims to provide a comparative framework for viewing a wide range of data from organizations’ country rankings on the issues of freedom of religion or belief. By placing the rankings of these diverse organizations in one central place, the Data Spectrum offers users the opportunity to identify a richer, ideologically broader look at each country in the world. The maps below show the data in a compelling way that can help people understand the opportunities and gaps in Global Religious Freedom data.
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Unique Country Rankings Surveyed in the Project
A project of 21Wilberforce and IIRF
Interactive Data Spectrum Map
On the map below you can view the country rankings of the 13 organizations included in this project. Users can see the overall rankings in the color-coded maps and drill down to view the individual rankings of each country on each of the layers. There is also an “All Data Spectrum Indicators Map” where all the country rankings of each organization are listed.
Map Layer Instructions
- In the top left corner of the map, select the “toggle layer list”
- Click on the eye button to any specific organizational map you wish to view.
- You can click on each country to see their ranking for that map layer.
- To view a new organization’s map, you must uncheck the previous layer and then select a new layer.
Data Tables
Methodology
| Organization | Scale | Methodology |
| USCIRF | Country of Particular Concern, Special Watch List | https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2021-04/2021%20Annual%20Report.pdf |
| Pew Government Restrictions Index | Low–High | https://www.pewforum.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2020/11/PF_20.10.28_Restrictions11_appendixA.pdf |
| Pew Social Hostilities Index | Low–High | https://www.pewforum.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2020/11/PF_20.10.28_Restrictions11_appendixB.pdf |
| Open Doors – Level of Christian Persecution | Very High, Extreme | https://www.opendoorsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/WWL2021_Booklet-digital.pdf |
| Cato Human Freedom Index | 0–10, least to most free | https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2020-12/human-freedom-index-2020.pdf |
| ADL Global 100 Survey | 0%–100% of adults expressing antisemitic attitudes to most survey questions | https://global100.adl.org |
| Freedom House – Feedom of Expression & Belief | 0–4, least to most free | https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores |
| World Index of Moral Freedom | 0–100, least to most free | https://fundalib.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WIMF-2020.pdf |
| Varieties of Democracy Index | 0–4, low to high levels of religious freedom | https://www.v-dem.net/en/analysis/MapGraph/ |
| Freedom of Thought Index | 1–200, most to least free | https://fot.humanists.international/ranking-index-2020/ |
| Aid to the Church in Need – Religious Freedom Report | Stable, Discrimination, Persecution | https://religious-freedom-report.org/fr/home-fr/ |
| Religious Regulation Index | 0–3, low to high levels of religious regulation | https://www.thearda.com/internationalData/ |
| Religious Minority Discrimination | 0–3, low to high levels of religious minority discrimination | https://www.thearda.com/internationalData/ |
Data Spectrum Report
Click on picture to view report
Global Religious Freedom Data Spectrum: 2021 Report
“Freedom of religion, belief, and conscience (commonly abbreviated as FoRB) is a fundamental human right independent of ideology, faith system, political or personal identity.
Over the years, various organizations have collected, analyzed, and published statistical data and anecdotal information—related to the degrees of freedom and suppression of these freedoms in various countries—in data tables, geocoded map renderings, infographics, rankings, and other analytical formats.
Individual and organizational perspectives and interpretations of issues and events related to FoRB, however, are inherently seen through interpretative lenses limited by subjective biases and the quality and representational distribution of sources and data …”
Project Partner
21Wilberforce
21Wilberforce originally launched the Project in 2020 in partnership with the Loeb Institute of George Washington University. The hosting of the Project was transferred to IIRF in 2023 and 21Wilberforce remains a collaborative partner on the Project.