Currently, academic freedom is lacking for 3.6 billion people, or 45.5% of the world’s population. The state of academic freedom globally, as revealed by the 2024 Update of the Academic Freedom Index (AFI), crafted by the University of Gothenburg and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), is reminiscent of conditions from fifty years ago in 1973, despite a peak in 2006.
Covering 179 countries, the AFI shows that academic freedom has improved in 56 nations and achieved high levels in 61 countries with a combined population of 1.1 billion. Notably, ten countries witnessed a steady increase in academic freedom in 2023, a positive trend not seen in over two decades.
Polarized society
Countries with significant societal polarization face risks to academic freedom. The AFI Update identifies the top six countries experiencing a decline in academic freedom in 2023—El Salvador, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Russia, and Venezuela. Interestingly, in each case, the drop in the Academic Freedom Index followed a rise in polarization.
However, Brazil, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Thailand saw an expansion of academic freedom despite polarization. This suggests that the relationship between academic freedom and polarization is complex, with legal frameworks and the agency of universities and academics playing a role in mitigating pressures on free science and higher education.
The AFI, a collaboration between the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg and political scientists at FAU, incorporates indicators such as the freedom to research and teach, academic exchange, academic and cultural expression, institutional autonomy of universities, and campus integrity. Covering the period from 1900 to 2023, the AFI is based on assessments by 2,329 global experts and a statistical model that consolidates their evaluations into a single score.
For those interested, detailed open-access data from AFI 1900–2023 is available for further study, along with interactive visualizations, country profiles, and information on the index project. User-friendly graphing tools are accessible to researchers, students, university administrators, research funders, and policymakers.
