According to a recent report, 2025 marks the 19th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. Violence and armed conflict were cited as major drivers, with large portions of the world’s population living without minimal protection from the violence of war and crime.
The Freedom in the World 2025 report, produced by Freedom House, tracks global trends in political rights and civil liberties. This year, it found that violent conflict and political instability continue to fuel the broader decline, with ethnic and religious minorities especially vulnerable.
Another report, the Human Freedom Index 2025, co-published by the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute, assigns each country a Human Freedom score based on personal and economic freedom. The countries in this gallery ranked lowest using the latest comprehensive data available in the index.
Click on to discover the 30 least free countries in the world.