Regional Trends and Threats to Freedom

Freedom continued to decline in Africa in 2024, with political rights and civil liberties deteriorating in 21 out of 54 countries, while only 8 registered improvements. Sudan’s score declined by 4 points on Freedom in the World’s 100-point scale due to the ongoing civil war, which has resulted in massive human suffering, extensive displacement and destruction, and the disruption of schooling for millions of students. Two countries, Tanzania and Niger, fell from Partly Free to Not Free status. In Tanzania, members of the ethnic Maasai population faced forced evictions and voter deregistration, and broader attacks against the country’s political opposition also dragged down political rights. In Niger, the military junta that took control in a 2023 coup offered no plans to return to civilian rule and continued to govern in a repressive manner, arresting journalists and arbitrarily detaining members of the political opposition.

Antidemocratic leaders across the continent consolidated their power through manipulated elections. Tunisia tied for the year’s largest score decline as President Kaïs Saïed’s regime arrested candidates and changed electoral laws ahead of the October presidential election, resulting in a lopsided victory for the incumbent. The electoral laws were also changed in Madagascar, hindering the opposition’s ability to gain power through competitive balloting. Togo’s repressive leadership used a constitutional revision to shift the country from a presidential to a parliamentary system, potentially allowing President Faure Gnassingbé to remain in power indefinitely.

Despite the overall degradation in political rights, Africa featured several election-related bright spots where leaders and citizens alike actively participated in upholding democracy. The territory of Somaliland earned the region’s largest score improvement after an overdue presidential election went forward and proved both peaceful and competitive. Free and fair elections in Botswana led to its first transfer of power from one party to another, and hotly contested balloting in South Africa cost the ruling African National Congress party its majority for the first time in decades, forcing it to build a broader coalition. In Senegal, civil society was instrumental in pushing back against the incumbent president’s efforts to delay the presidential election in February, and snap parliamentary elections in November were well conducted, contributing to the country’s improvement from Partly Free to Free status.

Freedom waned in the shadow of criminal violence and state repression.

Freedom declined overall in the Asia-Pacific region, where 11 out of 39 countries registered an overall score decline for 2024, and just five improved. Several key elections were marred by violence or manipulation. In India and Pakistan, which both suffered 3-point declines, opposition candidates faced uneven playing fields that favored incumbents. The Indian opposition raised concerns about selective enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct for parties and candidates, while the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was barred from fielding official candidates or using its symbol on the ballot, meaning candidates had to run as independents. Bangladesh held deeply flawed elections in February, but mass protests later in the year drove Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her repressive government from power, creating a critical opening for democratic reform and contributing to a 5-point improvement in the country’s score.

Clampdowns on dissent deepened elsewhere in the region. In Hong Kong, the Beijing-controlled legislature implemented vague new laws designed to further suppress any activities or speech related to “external interference” or “state secrets.” In Myanmar, the vicious military junta that seized power in a 2021 coup exacerbated a climate of fear in the country through more aggressive forced conscription efforts, a ban on virtual private networks (VPNs), and a new census and electronic identification system for the population—though it continued to lose territory to rebel groups calling for a decentralized, multiethnic democracy. These repressive measures were part of a worrying downward trend in conditions for human rights defenders, journalists, and the political opposition in a range of countries and territories where civil liberties were already tightly constricted.

Defying the negative trajectory, some countries hosted free and fair elections that led to notable score improvements. Bhutan’s status was upgraded from Partly Free to Free due in part to competitive elections and a peaceful transfer of power. Sri Lanka’s elections were less violent than past contests and resulted in a 4-point score improvement for the island nation. Indian Kashmir received the largest score improvement in Freedom in the World 2025 after long-overdue legislative elections were finally held in the territory. The balloting helped to raise its status from Not Free to Partly Free and resulted in victory for local opposition parties, though a lieutenant governor appointed by the Indian government continued to wield considerable authority, circumscribing the influence of locally elected leaders.

Freedom in Eurasia declined for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, as six out of 12 countries suffered deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties, and just one experienced improvement. Across the region, authoritarian regimes used sham elections to consolidate their power and further suppress democratic principles. In several countries, including Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan, elections were held despite the exclusion of any genuine opposition. External pressures stifled other countries’ democratic aspirations—as in Moldova, where a presidential election and European Union (EU) referendum were marred by allegations of Russian interference. In Georgia, international observers identified several significant issues affecting the integrity of parliamentary elections, contributing to a 3-point score decline. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, which entered its third year in 2024, made it all but impossible for the country to hold a presidential election that would normally have been scheduled for March.

In defiance of the deepening repression against political opposition and civil society in much of the region, human rights defenders and ordinary citizens mobilized to protect democratic rights throughout the year. Georgian citizens launched widespread protests against the government’s antidemocratic turn and demanded the withdrawal of restrictive legislation targeting nongovernmental organizations, persisting even after the authorities responded with excessive violence. Lawmakers also passed a measure that curbed LGBT+ rights. In Georgia’s breakaway territory of Abkhazia, demonstrations against the detention of local opposition politicians and a highly unpopular investment deal with Russia led to the release of detained leaders and the resignation of the territory’s de facto president. In Armenia, authorities responded to growing popular support for further democratization and EU integration by reducing security dependence on Russia and moving the country toward closer cooperation with the EU. In a region dominated by authoritarian regimes, civil society has continued to demonstrate its resilience and commitment to protecting democratic principles. 

Europe retained its status as the freest region in the world following a politically tumultuous year that featured rising political violence and growing restrictions on migration. The status quo largely prevailed in 2024, with nine out of 42 countries registering improvements in their political rights and civil liberties, and seven suffering declines. Germany and Poland each improved by 2 points after German authorities reduced barriers to citizenship and assembly, while Poland made progress toward long-awaited legislative and judicial reforms. In contrast, leaders in Slovakia weakened anticorruption institutions through a rapid series of reforms to the justice system. Meanwhile in Romania, the annulment of December’s presidential election due to claims of foreign interference left the country mired in political uncertainty at year’s end. Turkey remained the only country rated Not Free in the region.

Europe’s upward trajectory was checked in part by an undercurrent of political violence and extremism, even in consolidated democracies. Slovakia’s prime minister narrowly survived an assassination attempt in May, and lawmakers, diplomats, and political candidates were physically attacked or assaulted in countries including Denmark, France, Germany, and Spain. In the Netherlands, more than 60 people were arrested for antisemitic and Islamophobic violence and vandalism surrounding a soccer match. And in the United Kingdom, disinformation about a recent stabbing spurred a series of far-right, anti-immigrant riots.

Migration was a particularly salient issue in many European countries, as authorities adopted increasingly restrictive approaches, undermining democratic guarantees of equal treatment, due process, and protection from refoulement. In Serbia and the territory of Northern Cyprus, reports emerged of human rights activists being denied entry or impeded at the border, ostensibly as a result of their beliefs and work. Pushbacks escalated during the year in the southern Republic of Cyprus, as around 70 asylum seekers were reportedly forced back into the buffer zone that divides the island without due process. In Europe’s northeastern corner, concerns about the Kremlin’s use of migration as a form of “hybrid warfare” have led authorities to suspend asylum rights or close crossings at strategic borders, such as in Poland and Finland.