Countries with lowest levels of civic space worldwide 2022

North Korea was ranked as the country with the least open civic space in the world in 2022, with an index score of only two out of 100. The Asian state is known for being one of the most closed in the world, with massive surveillance and arrests of political opponents. Syria, ravaged by civil war and the oppressive rule of Bashar al-Assad followed in second with a score of four, while Laos, Saudi Arabia, and Eritrea all received a score of seven. Most of the countries with the least open civic space in the world are found in Asia including the Middle East.

20 countries with the least open civic space worldwide 2022

Characteristic	Index score (0-100)
North Korea	2
Syria	4
Laos	7
Saudi Arabia	7
Eritrea	7
Turkmenistan	10
Myanmar	12
China	12
Afghanistan	13
Iran	13
Hong Kong (China SAR)	15
Bahrain	15
Nicaragua	15
Belarus	16
United Arab Emirates	17
Russia	17
Cuba	17
Vietnam	18
Iraq	18
Djibouti	18

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Release date

March 2023

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Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

2022

Supplementary notes

The source defines civic space as "the respect in policy, law and practice for freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression and the extent to which the state protects these fundamental rights."
The ranking is based on assessments made by 20 organizations with expertise on the topic. It includes 197 countries who are given a ranking from zero (closed civic space) to 100 (open civic space), which are classified as either open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed, or closed. For more about the methodology behind the ranking, please visit the source's methodology page.

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