{"id":310673,"date":"2026-06-15T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=310673"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:23:52","slug":"number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of countries with high or very high social hostilities rose in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-style-plus-icon has-border-color has-ui-gray-light-border-color has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-background has-sans-serif-font-family is-layout-flow wp-container-core-details-is-layout-61b01db2 wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-width:1px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);font-size:clamp(0.875em, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 0.2em) * 0.009), 0.88em);\"><summary>About this research<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is Pew Research Center\u2019s 16th annual report on levels of restrictions on religion around the world. It scores 198 countries and territories on two separate indexes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The\u00a0Government Restrictions Index (GRI)<\/strong>\u00a0measures actions by government officials at all levels that restrict religious beliefs and practices. Government restrictions include laws, policies and pronouncements that ban or limit religious beliefs or practices. A few examples are: barring a religious group from holding worship services; outlawing certain types of religious attire; and favoring or punishing religious groups through public funding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The\u00a0Social Hostilities Index (SHI)\u00a0<\/strong>measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, groups or organizations. Social hostilities include harassment (whether physical or nonphysical), mob violence, militant activity, terrorism and disparaging statements that are motivated by religion or target religious groups. A few examples are: vandalism of religious sites; harassment of individuals because of their religious clothing; and physical attacks on people involved in religious conversions or proselytizing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To create these indexes, researchers annually comb through publicly available, widely cited sources of information, including publications by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the United Nations, and several independent, nongovernmental organizations such as the International Crisis Group, Freedom House, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To learn more about how Pew Research Center tracks restrictions on religion, read the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\">Methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This analysis was produced by Pew Research Center as part of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/topic\/religion\/religious-demographics\/pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-project\/\">Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project<\/a>, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Funding for the Global Religious Futures project comes from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation (grant 63095). This publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, fifty-five of the 198 countries and territories covered in a new Pew Research Center study had high or very high levels of <strong>social hostilities involving religion<\/strong>, such as harassment, assault or mob violence, by nongovernment actors. That was up from 45 in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The six countries with <em>very high<\/em> social hostilities involving religion in 2023 were Nigeria, India, Israel, Syria, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Both Israel and Bangladesh moved into the very high category partly because of large-scale violence, including the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 in southern Israel and rioting against Ahmadi Muslims on March 3-4 in northern Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, 58 countries and territories had high or very high levels of <strong>government restrictions on religion<\/strong> in 2023, about the same number as in the previous year (59). Twenty-five countries had <em>very high<\/em> levels of government restrictions, including China, Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria and Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure style=\"--max-width__desktop: 310px; --max-width__tablet: ; --max-width__mobile: ;\" class=\"wp-chart-builder has-max-width-constraint\">\t\t<div style=\"max-width:310px\" class=\"wp-chart-builder-wrapper alignright wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller--freeform wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller\" id=\"94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4\" data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/controller\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4&quot;,&quot;postId&quot;:310673,&quot;postUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/religion\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;chartPostUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/chart\\\/how-the-index-scores-are-classified\\\/&quot;,&quot;postPubDate&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15&quot;,&quot;rootUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org&quot;,&quot;featuredImageId&quot;:316751,&quot;featuredImageUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/how_the_index_scores_are_classified-309023-1781282742.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;How the index scores are classified&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;note&quot;:&quot;Note: The analysis categorizes the levels of government restrictions and social hostilities in each country by percentiles. As the benchmark, it uses the results from the baseline year of the study (the year ending in mid-2007). Scores in the top 5% on each index in mid-2007 were categorized as \\&quot;very high.\\&quot; The next highest 15% of scores were categorized as \\&quot;high,\\&quot; and the following 20% were categorized as \\&quot;moderate.\\&quot; The bottom 60% of scores were\\ncategorized as \\&quot;low.\\&quot;&quot;,&quot;source&quot;:&quot;Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.&lt;br&gt;\\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\\u201d&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;PEW RESEARCH CENTER&quot;,&quot;tableData&quot;:{&quot;header&quot;:[&quot;&quot;,&quot;Government Restrictions Index&quot;,&quot;Social Hostilities Index&quot;],&quot;rows&quot;:[[&quot;Very high&quot;,&quot;6.6 to 10.0&quot;,&quot;7.2 to 10.0&quot;],[&quot;High&quot;,&quot;4.5 to 6.5&quot;,&quot;3.6 to 7.1&quot;],[&quot;Moderate&quot;,&quot;2.4 to 4.4&quot;,&quot;1.5 to 3.5&quot;],[&quot;Low&quot;,&quot;0.0 to 2.3&quot;,&quot;0.0 to 1.4&quot;]],&quot;footer&quot;:[]},&quot;isFreeformChart&quot;:true}\" data-wp-init--detect-web-share-support=\"callbacks.detectWebShareSupport\" data-wp-init--sync-table-height=\"callbacks.syncTableHeight\" data-wp-init--watch-chart=\"callbacks.watchChart\" data-wp-init--reset-tab-on-navigation=\"callbacks.resetTabOnNavigation\" data-png-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/how_the_index_scores_are_classified-309023-1781282742.png\" data-has-csv=\"true\" data-allow-data-download=\"true\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\/\" data-chart-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/chart\/how-the-index-scores-are-classified\/\" data-chart-title=\"How the index scores are classified\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-allow-overlay=\"true\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__text-wrapper\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">How the index scores are classified<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-group wp-chart-builder-freeform-chart has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e3c7b0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e3c7b0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"277\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/05\/Overview_levels_310px@2x.png?resize=480,214 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/05\/Overview_levels_310px@2x.png?resize=620,277 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/05\/Overview_levels_310px@2x.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-309087 not-transparent\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: The analysis categorizes the levels of government restrictions and social hostilities in each country by percentiles. As the benchmark, it uses the results from the baseline year of the study (the year ending in mid-2007). Scores in the top 5% on each index in mid-2007 were categorized as &#8220;very high.&#8221; The next highest 15% of scores were categorized as &#8220;high,&#8221; and the following 20% were categorized as &#8220;moderate.&#8221; The bottom 60% of scores were\ncategorized as &#8220;low.&#8221;<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 10px 0 0px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- register a callback on this div to see if the native share is supported -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__overlay\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"share-modal__overlay-94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t><\/div>\n\t\t\t<!-- TODO: I would like to be able to use the social share block here. Need to modify it to work with the share modal. -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal\" id=\"share-modal-94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"share-modal__title\">Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"share-modal__close\" aria-label=\"Close Share Modal\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dashicons dashicons-no-alt\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--twitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on X<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--facebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on Facebook<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\" id=\"94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4-table\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">How the index scores are classified<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table__inner\" style=\"max-width: 310px !important; margin-bottom: 0; overflow: auto;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-prc-block-table is-scroll-on-pc is-scroll-on-mobile chart-builder-data-table has-sans-serif-font-family has-small-font-size\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout is-sticky-first-column\"><thead><tr><th><\/th><th>Government Restrictions Index<\/th><th>Social Hostilities Index<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Very high<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">6.6 to 10.0<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"2\">7.2 to 10.0<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">High<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">4.5 to 6.5<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"2\">3.6 to 7.1<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Moderate<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">2.4 to 4.4<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"2\">1.5 to 3.5<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Low<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">0.0 to 2.3<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"2\">0.0 to 1.4<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__download-data-button-hr\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__download-data-button\">\n\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\trole=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"has-sans-serif-font-family\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\tDownload data as .csv\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: The analysis categorizes the levels of government restrictions and social hostilities in each country by percentiles. As the benchmark, it uses the results from the baseline year of the study (the year ending in mid-2007). Scores in the top 5% on each index in mid-2007 were categorized as &#8220;very high.&#8221; The next highest 15% of scores were categorized as &#8220;high,&#8221; and the following 20% were categorized as &#8220;moderate.&#8221; The bottom 60% of scores were\ncategorized as &#8220;low.&#8221;<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons\" style=\"max-width:310px;\"><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__tabs\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-chart-id=\"94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Chart<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-chart-id=\"94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Data<\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__actions\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--download-image\" data-chart-id=\"94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadImage\">Download Image<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--share\" data-chart-view=\"share\" data-chart-id=\"94daf4b1-a4b1-4b44-8da0-5986911448d4\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Share<\/button><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most countries around the world continued to have low or moderate social hostilities involving religion. Most also had low or moderate government restrictions on religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These findings are based on each country\u2019s scores on two indexes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Social Hostilities Index (SHI) combines 13 indicators of religion-related hostilities by private individuals, groups and organizations, including terrorist groups. The Government Restrictions Index (GRI) includes 20 indicators of how government officials, laws and policies restrict religion. Scores on each index range from 0 to 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This part of the study focuses on countries that scored high or very high on either index. It also examines year-to-year changes, including how many countries moved up or down on each index. It is part of a wider Pew Research Center study of restrictions on religion around the world in 2023. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/more-countries-had-elevated-levels-of-social-hostilities-involving-religion-in-2023\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/more-countries-had-elevated-levels-of-social-hostilities-involving-religion-in-2023\/\">report overview<\/a> for a broader understanding of the study\u2019s key findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;social-hostilities-related-to-religion&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" id=\"social-hostilities-related-to-religion\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Social hostilities related to religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the SHI, a score of 7.2 to 10 is considered very high, while a score of 3.6 to 7.1 is considered high. (Refer to the chart and <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\">Methodology<\/a> for more details on SHI categories.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, six countries scored very high on the SHI, a slight decrease from seven in 2022. But 49 countries and territories scored high, up from 38 the previous year. In total, 55 scored either very high or high in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As in past years, most of the 198 countries and territories covered by the study had either low (94 countries) or moderate (49) levels of social hostilities in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"countries-with-the-most-extensive-social-hostilities\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Countries with the most extensive social hostilities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each of the six countries with the highest levels of social hostilities in 2023 \u2013 Nigeria, India, Israel, Syria, Bangladesh and Pakistan \u2013 had an SHI score of at least 7.5 in 2023, placing them firmly in the very high category. <\/p>\n\n\n<figure style=\"--max-width__desktop: 310px; --max-width__tablet: ; --max-width__mobile: ;\" class=\"wp-chart-builder has-max-width-constraint\">\t\t<div style=\"max-width:310px\" class=\"wp-chart-builder-wrapper alignright wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller--freeform wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller\" id=\"9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2\" data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/controller\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2&quot;,&quot;postId&quot;:310673,&quot;postUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/religion\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;chartPostUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/chart\\\/countries-and-territories-with-very-high-social-hostilities-involving-religion\\\/&quot;,&quot;postPubDate&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15&quot;,&quot;rootUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org&quot;,&quot;featuredImageId&quot;:316754,&quot;featuredImageUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/countries_and_territories_with_very_high_social_hostilities_involving_religion-308956-1781282772.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Countries and territories with \\u2018very high\\u2019 social hostilities involving religion&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Scores of 7.2 or higher on the 10-point Social Hostilities Index&quot;,&quot;note&quot;:&quot;* Country had \\&quot;very high\\&quot; social hostilities in 2022 but not in 2023.&lt;br&gt;** (or bold) Country had \\&quot;very high\\&quot; social hostilities in 2023 but not in 2022.&quot;,&quot;source&quot;:&quot;Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.&lt;br&gt;\\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\\u201d&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;PEW RESEARCH CENTER&quot;,&quot;tableData&quot;:{&quot;header&quot;:[&quot;2022&quot;,&quot;2023&quot;],&quot;rows&quot;:[[&quot;Afghanistan*&quot;,&quot;Bangladesh**&quot;],[&quot;Egypt*&quot;,&quot;India&quot;],[&quot;India&quot;,&quot;Israel**&quot;],[&quot;Iraq*&quot;,&quot;Nigeria&quot;],[&quot;Nigeria&quot;,&quot;Pakistan&quot;],[&quot;Pakistan&quot;,&quot;Syria&quot;],[&quot;Syria&quot;,&quot;&quot;]],&quot;footer&quot;:[]},&quot;isFreeformChart&quot;:true}\" data-wp-init--detect-web-share-support=\"callbacks.detectWebShareSupport\" data-wp-init--sync-table-height=\"callbacks.syncTableHeight\" data-wp-init--watch-chart=\"callbacks.watchChart\" data-wp-init--reset-tab-on-navigation=\"callbacks.resetTabOnNavigation\" data-png-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/countries_and_territories_with_very_high_social_hostilities_involving_religion-308956-1781282772.png\" data-has-csv=\"true\" data-allow-data-download=\"true\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\/\" data-chart-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/chart\/countries-and-territories-with-very-high-social-hostilities-involving-religion\/\" data-chart-title=\"Countries and territories with \u2018very high\u2019 social hostilities involving religion\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-allow-overlay=\"true\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__text-wrapper\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Countries and territories with \u2018very high\u2019 social hostilities involving religion<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Scores of 7.2 or higher on the 10-point Social Hostilities Index<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-group wp-chart-builder-freeform-chart has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f5f5f5\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f5f5f5;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"340\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_countriesHighSHI@2x.png?resize=480,263 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_countriesHighSHI@2x.png?resize=620,340 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_countriesHighSHI@2x.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-310453 not-transparent\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">* Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; social hostilities in 2022 but not in 2023.<br>** (or bold) Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; social hostilities in 2023 but not in 2022.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 10px 0 0px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- register a callback on this div to see if the native share is supported -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__overlay\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"share-modal__overlay-9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t><\/div>\n\t\t\t<!-- TODO: I would like to be able to use the social share block here. Need to modify it to work with the share modal. -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal\" id=\"share-modal-9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"share-modal__title\">Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"share-modal__close\" aria-label=\"Close Share Modal\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dashicons dashicons-no-alt\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--twitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on X<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--facebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on Facebook<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\" id=\"9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2-table\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Countries and territories with \u2018very high\u2019 social hostilities involving religion<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Scores of 7.2 or higher on the 10-point Social Hostilities Index<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table__inner\" style=\"max-width: 310px !important; margin-bottom: 0; overflow: auto;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-prc-block-table is-scroll-on-pc is-scroll-on-mobile chart-builder-data-table has-sans-serif-font-family has-small-font-size\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout is-sticky-first-column\"><thead><tr><th>2022<\/th><th>2023<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Afghanistan*<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Bangladesh**<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Egypt*<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">India<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">India<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Israel**<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Iraq*<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Nigeria<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Nigeria<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Pakistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Pakistan<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Syria<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Syria<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\"><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__download-data-button-hr\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__download-data-button\">\n\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\trole=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"has-sans-serif-font-family\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\tDownload data as .csv\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">* Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; social hostilities in 2022 but not in 2023.<br>** (or bold) Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; social hostilities in 2023 but not in 2022.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons\" style=\"max-width:310px;\"><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__tabs\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-chart-id=\"9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Chart<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-chart-id=\"9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Data<\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__actions\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--download-image\" data-chart-id=\"9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadImage\">Download Image<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--share\" data-chart-view=\"share\" data-chart-id=\"9d410779-e96d-4678-ac95-6dfd2476c5d2\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Share<\/button><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The previous year, Israel and Bangladesh had been in the \u201chigh\u201d category (rather than \u201cvery high\u201d). Israel\u2019s increase in score, from 7.1 points in 2022 to 8.4 points, reflected among other events a surprise attack by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip on a music festival, kibbutzim and military bases <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/hrbodies\/hrcouncil\/sessions-regular\/session56\/a-hrc-56-crp-3.pdf\">in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023<\/a>.[2.numoffset=&#8221;2&#8243; For the purposes of coding terrorism attacks, we count only attacks against noncombatants. Therefore, the Hamas attacks on Israel\u2019s military bases were not coded as social hostilities against religion. For more, refer to the report\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\">Methodology<\/a>.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Hamas attack added to Israel\u2019s SHI score because it was a terrorist attack on Israeli territory committed by an organization whose <a href=\"https:\/\/irp.fas.org\/world\/para\/docs\/hamas-2017.pdf\">charter cites religious principles and objectives<\/a>. Terrorism motivated by religion or targeting a religious group is counted in this study as a social hostility involving religion in the country where it occurs. Refer to the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\">Methodology<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bangladesh\u2019s increase (from 6.1 to 7.8 points on the SHI) also reflects, in part, deaths in 2023 from mob violence. On March 3-4, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/bangladesh\/\">hundreds of people attacked the Ahmadi Muslim community<\/a> at an annual gathering in the village of Ahmednagar, in the northern Panchagarh district. The attack resulted in two deaths, dozens of injuries, and the looting and destruction of many Ahmadi homes, an Ahmadi mosque, and a medical clinic, according to the U.S. State Department\u2019s 2023 annual report on International Religious Freedom. Earlier in the year, a crowd of hundreds also attacked the house of a Hindu man in the village of Kotalipara (located in the Gopalganj district) in retaliation for a Facebook posting that allegedly denigrated the Prophet Muhammad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three countries \u2013 Afghanistan, Egypt and Iraq \u2013 had SHI levels that <em>decreased<\/em> from very high in 2022 to high in 2023. Although they shifted between categories, both Afghanistan and Egypt had fairly small numerical reductions in their SHI scores, going from 7.3 to 7.0 and 7.4 to 7.1, respectively. Iraq\u2019s SHI score decreased by a full point, from 7.8 to 6.8.[3. To capture ongoing hostilities, some SHI measures include events not just in the coding year but also in the previous two years. The decrease in Iraq\u2019s score in 2023, then, partly reflects a decline over time in social hostilities since 2020, not just a drop from 2022 to 2023. Refer to the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\">Methodology<\/a> for details on the measures that are coded over multiple years.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"changes-in-scores-on-the-social-hostilities-index\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Changes in scores on the Social Hostilities Index<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, 139 countries had changes in their SHI scores of at least 0.1 point, including 88 countries with <em>increases<\/em> and 51 with <em>decreases<\/em>. Fifty-nine countries had no change in their overall SHI scores. In 2023, the number of countries with a year-to-year <em>decrease<\/em> on the SHI (51) is the lowest in the 16-year history of our study.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"--max-width__desktop: 310px; --max-width__tablet: ; --max-width__mobile: ;\" class=\"alignright wp-block-prc-chart-builder-synced-chart has-max-width-constraint\"><figure style=\"--max-width__desktop: 310px; --max-width__tablet: ; --max-width__mobile: ;\" class=\"wp-chart-builder has-max-width-constraint\">\t\t<div style=\"max-width:310px\" class=\"wp-chart-builder-wrapper alignnone wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller--freeform wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller\" id=\"4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3\" data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/controller\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3&quot;,&quot;postId&quot;:310673,&quot;postUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/religion\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;chartPostUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/chart\\\/changes-on-the-shi-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;postPubDate&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15&quot;,&quot;rootUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org&quot;,&quot;featuredImageId&quot;:316764,&quot;featuredImageUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/changes_on_the_shi_in_2023-308968-1781283339.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Changes on the SHI in 2023&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Changes on the Social Hostilities Index (SHI) from 2022 to 2023&quot;,&quot;note&quot;:&quot;Note: Point changes are calculated by comparing SHI scores from year to year. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.&quot;,&quot;source&quot;:&quot;Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.&lt;br&gt;\\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\\u201d&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;PEW RESEARCH CENTER&quot;,&quot;tableData&quot;:{&quot;header&quot;:[&quot;Point change&quot;,&quot;Number of countries&quot;,&quot;% of countries&quot;],&quot;rows&quot;:[[&quot;2.0 or more increase&quot;,&quot;3&quot;,&quot;2%&quot;],[&quot;1.0 to 1.9 increase&quot;,&quot;24&quot;,&quot;12%&quot;],[&quot;0.1 to 0.9 increase&quot;,&quot;61&quot;,&quot;31%&quot;],[&quot;No change&quot;,&quot;59&quot;,&quot;30%&quot;],[&quot;0.1 to 0.9 decrease&quot;,&quot;42&quot;,&quot;21%&quot;],[&quot;1.0 to 1.9 decrease&quot;,&quot;9&quot;,&quot;5%&quot;],[&quot;2.0 or more decrease&quot;,&quot;0&quot;,&quot;0%&quot;],[&quot;Total&quot;,&quot;198&quot;,&quot;100%&quot;]],&quot;footer&quot;:[]},&quot;isFreeformChart&quot;:true}\" data-wp-init--detect-web-share-support=\"callbacks.detectWebShareSupport\" data-wp-init--sync-table-height=\"callbacks.syncTableHeight\" data-wp-init--watch-chart=\"callbacks.watchChart\" data-wp-init--reset-tab-on-navigation=\"callbacks.resetTabOnNavigation\" data-png-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/changes_on_the_shi_in_2023-308968-1781283339.png\" data-has-csv=\"true\" data-allow-data-download=\"true\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\/\" data-chart-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/chart\/changes-on-the-shi-in-2023\/\" data-chart-title=\"Changes on the SHI in 2023\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-allow-overlay=\"true\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__text-wrapper\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Changes on the SHI in 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Changes on the Social Hostilities Index (SHI) from 2022 to 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-group wp-chart-builder-freeform-chart has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e4d4c7\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e4d4c7;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"425\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_changesSHI@2x.png?resize=480,329 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_changesSHI@2x.png?resize=620,425 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_changesSHI@2x.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-310436 not-transparent\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: Point changes are calculated by comparing SHI scores from year to year. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 10px 0 0px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- register a callback on this div to see if the native share is supported -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__overlay\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"share-modal__overlay-4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t><\/div>\n\t\t\t<!-- TODO: I would like to be able to use the social share block here. Need to modify it to work with the share modal. -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal\" id=\"share-modal-4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"share-modal__title\">Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"share-modal__close\" aria-label=\"Close Share Modal\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dashicons dashicons-no-alt\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--twitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on X<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--facebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on Facebook<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\" id=\"4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3-table\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Changes on the SHI in 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Changes on the Social Hostilities Index (SHI) from 2022 to 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table__inner\" style=\"max-width: 310px !important; margin-bottom: 0; overflow: auto;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-prc-block-table is-scroll-on-pc is-scroll-on-mobile chart-builder-data-table has-sans-serif-font-family has-small-font-size\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout is-sticky-first-column\"><thead><tr><th>Point change<\/th><th style=\"text-align:center\">Number of countries<\/th><th style=\"text-align:center\">% of countries<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">2.0 or more increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">3<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">2%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">1.0 to 1.9 increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">24<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">12%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">0.1 to 0.9 increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">61<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">31%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">No change<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">59<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">30%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">0.1 to 0.9 decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">42<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">21%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">1.0 to 1.9 decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">9<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">5%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">2.0 or more decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">0<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">0%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Total<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">198<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">100%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__download-data-button-hr\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__download-data-button\">\n\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\trole=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"has-sans-serif-font-family\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\tDownload data as .csv\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: Point changes are calculated by comparing SHI scores from year to year. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons\" style=\"max-width:310px;\"><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__tabs\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-chart-id=\"4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Chart<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-chart-id=\"4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Data<\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__actions\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--download-image\" data-chart-id=\"4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadImage\">Download Image<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--share\" data-chart-view=\"share\" data-chart-id=\"4095f39a-a014-4e8b-81fc-3134f2d2c7f3\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Share<\/button><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In just over half the countries analyzed (103 out of 198), the change in SHI scores was relatively small in 2023 (0.1 to 0.9 point), including 61 countries with increases and 42 with decreases. An additional 33 countries had modest SHI changes (1.0 to 1.9 points), including 24 increases and nine decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No countries or territories had large SHI decreases in 2023, but three countries had large <em>increases<\/em> (2.0 points or more). One of those countries, Argentina, moved from the low category to moderate social hostilities as its SHI score rose from 0.2 in 2022 to 2.4 in 2023. Among the incidents reflected in Argentina\u2019s higher score were the discovery by police of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/argentina\/\">Nazi memorabilia and materials denying the Holocaust<\/a> in a law firm\u2019s \u201cprivate museum\u201d in Buenos Aires, and a bookstore in the city that sold and printed Nazi, antisemitic and Holocaust-denying texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other countries that had large increases, Sudan and Sweden, moved from the moderate category to a high level of social hostilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sudan\u2019s SHI score rose from 3.5 to 5.7, which was mostly due to continued conflict between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Amnesty International reported that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2023\/08\/sudan-war-crimes-rampant-as-civilians-killed-in-both-deliberate-and-indiscriminate-attacks-new-report\/\">RSF targeted Coptic Christians<\/a>, including in a May 13 attack on a church in Omdurman, where witnesses said RSF fighters shot several members of the clergy, stole money and took a gold cross. In that incident, and at other times during the year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/sudan\/\">RSF reportedly pressured Coptic Christians<\/a> to convert to Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, the RSF seized religious buildings in Sudan \u2013 including mosques and Coptic churches \u2013 for use as military bases. In one example cited by the U.S. State Department, the RSF converted the Shambat Mosque in the city of Bahri (also known as Khartoum North) into a barracks and ammunition warehouse, blocking its use for worship for months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sweden\u2019s rounded SHI score increased from 2.6 to 4.5 in 2023, reflecting \u2013 among other incidents \u2013 anti-Muslim demonstrations that included desecrations of the Quran.[4. The change in Sweden\u2019s SHI raw scores between 2022 (4.5462) and 2023 (2.5615) was actually 1.98 points, which we round to 2.0. That\u2019s why we place Sweden in the category of countries with large SHI changes. However, due to our report\u2019s rounding techniques for final SHI scores, the difference in the rounded numbers appears here as lower than 2.0 (1.9).] Over the course of the year, there were reports of individuals or small groups of protestors \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/sweden\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/sweden\/\">burning the Quran, ripping pages out of the Quran, stomping on the pages of the Quran, and smearing bacon on the Quran<\/a>,\u201d according to the State Department. The Quran desecrations occurred outside the parliament, the embassies of Muslim-majority countries and the Stockholm Mosque during Eid al-Adha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;government-restrictions-on-religion&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" id=\"government-restrictions-on-religion\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Government restrictions on religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the Government Restrictions Index (GRI), a score of 6.6 to 10 is considered very high, while scores between 4.5 and 6.5 points are considered high. (Refer to the chart above on how the index scores are classified and the report\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/religious-restrictions-2023-methodology\/\">Methodology<\/a> for more details on GRI categories.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, 25 countries had very high levels of government restrictions on religion, up from 24 in 2022. An additional 33 countries and territories scored high, down from 35 in 2022. In total, 58 scored either very high or high in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As in past years, most of the 198 countries and territories covered by the study had either low (71 countries) or moderate (69) government restrictions on religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"countries-with-the-most-extensive-government-restrictions\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Countries with the most extensive government restrictions<\/h4>\n\n\n<div style=\"--max-width__desktop: 310px; --max-width__tablet: ; --max-width__mobile: ;\" class=\"alignright wp-block-prc-chart-builder-synced-chart has-max-width-constraint\"><figure class=\"wp-chart-builder\">\t\t<div style=\"max-width:310px\" class=\"wp-chart-builder-wrapper alignnone wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller--freeform wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller\" id=\"ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395\" data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/controller\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395&quot;,&quot;postId&quot;:310673,&quot;postUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/religion\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;chartPostUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/chart\\\/countries-and-territories-with-very-high-government-restrictions-on-religion\\\/&quot;,&quot;postPubDate&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15&quot;,&quot;rootUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org&quot;,&quot;featuredImageId&quot;:316768,&quot;featuredImageUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/countries_and_territories_with_very_high_government_restrictions_on_religion-308932-1781283361.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Countries and territories with \\u2018very high\\u2019 government restrictions on religion&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Scores of 6.6 or higher on the 10-point Government Restrictions Index&quot;,&quot;note&quot;:&quot;* Country had \\&quot;very high\\&quot; government restrictions in 2022 but not in 2023. &lt;br&gt;** (or bold) Country had \\&quot;very high\\&quot; government restrictions in 2023 but not in 2022.&lt;br&gt;Note: Myanmar is also called Burma. &quot;,&quot;source&quot;:&quot;Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.&lt;br&gt;\\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\\u201d&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;PEW RESEARCH CENTER&quot;,&quot;tableData&quot;:{&quot;header&quot;:[&quot;2022&quot;,&quot;2023&quot;],&quot;rows&quot;:[[&quot;Afghanistan&quot;,&quot;Afghanistan&quot;],[&quot;Algeria&quot;,&quot;Algeria&quot;],[&quot;Azerbaijan&quot;,&quot;Azerbaijan&quot;],[&quot;China&quot;,&quot;Belarus**&quot;],[&quot;Egypt&quot;,&quot;Brunei**&quot;],[&quot;Indonesia&quot;,&quot;China&quot;],[&quot;Iran&quot;,&quot;Egypt&quot;],[&quot;Iraq&quot;,&quot;Indonesia&quot;],[&quot;Israel&quot;,&quot;Iran&quot;],[&quot;Malaysia&quot;,&quot;Iraq&quot;],[&quot;Maldives&quot;,&quot;Israel&quot;],[&quot;Mauritania&quot;,&quot;Laos**&quot;],[&quot;Morocco&quot;,&quot;Malaysia&quot;],[&quot;Myanmar&quot;,&quot;Maldives&quot;],[&quot;Pakistan&quot;,&quot;Mauritania&quot;],[&quot;Russia&quot;,&quot;Morocco&quot;],[&quot;Saudi Arabia&quot;,&quot;Myanmar&quot;],[&quot;Singapore&quot;,&quot;Pakistan&quot;],[&quot;Syria&quot;,&quot;Qatar**&quot;],[&quot;Tajikistan*&quot;,&quot;Russia&quot;],[&quot;Turkey*&quot;,&quot;Saudi Arabia&quot;],[&quot;Uzbekistan&quot;,&quot;Singapore&quot;],[&quot;Vietnam&quot;,&quot;Syria&quot;],[&quot;Western Sahara*&quot;,&quot;Uzbekistan&quot;],[&quot;&quot;,&quot;Vietnam&quot;]],&quot;footer&quot;:[]},&quot;isFreeformChart&quot;:true}\" data-wp-init--detect-web-share-support=\"callbacks.detectWebShareSupport\" data-wp-init--sync-table-height=\"callbacks.syncTableHeight\" data-wp-init--watch-chart=\"callbacks.watchChart\" data-wp-init--reset-tab-on-navigation=\"callbacks.resetTabOnNavigation\" data-png-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/countries_and_territories_with_very_high_government_restrictions_on_religion-308932-1781283361.png\" data-has-csv=\"true\" data-allow-data-download=\"true\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\/\" data-chart-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/chart\/countries-and-territories-with-very-high-government-restrictions-on-religion\/\" data-chart-title=\"Countries and territories with \u2018very high\u2019 government restrictions on religion\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-allow-overlay=\"true\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__text-wrapper\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Countries and territories with \u2018very high\u2019 government restrictions on religion<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Scores of 6.6 or higher on the 10-point Government Restrictions Index<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-group wp-chart-builder-freeform-chart has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f3f3f3\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f3f3f3;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"1094\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_countriesHighGRI@2x_d2ec8f.png?resize=480,847 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_countriesHighGRI@2x_d2ec8f.png?resize=620,1094 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_countriesHighGRI@2x_d2ec8f.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-310570 not-transparent\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">* Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; government restrictions in 2022 but not in 2023. <br>** (or bold) Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; government restrictions in 2023 but not in 2022.<br>Note: Myanmar is also called Burma. <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 10px 0 0px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- register a callback on this div to see if the native share is supported -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__overlay\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"share-modal__overlay-ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t><\/div>\n\t\t\t<!-- TODO: I would like to be able to use the social share block here. Need to modify it to work with the share modal. -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal\" id=\"share-modal-ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"share-modal__title\">Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"share-modal__close\" aria-label=\"Close Share Modal\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dashicons dashicons-no-alt\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--twitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on X<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--facebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on Facebook<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\" id=\"ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395-table\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Countries and territories with \u2018very high\u2019 government restrictions on religion<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Scores of 6.6 or higher on the 10-point Government Restrictions Index<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table__inner\" style=\"max-width: 310px !important; margin-bottom: 0; overflow: auto;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-prc-block-table is-scroll-on-pc is-scroll-on-mobile chart-builder-data-table has-sans-serif-font-family has-small-font-size\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout is-sticky-first-column\"><thead><tr><th>2022<\/th><th>2023<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Afghanistan<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Afghanistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Algeria<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Algeria<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Azerbaijan<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Azerbaijan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">China<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Belarus**<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Egypt<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Brunei**<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Indonesia<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">China<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Iran<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Egypt<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Iraq<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Indonesia<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Israel<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Iran<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Malaysia<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Iraq<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Maldives<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Israel<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Mauritania<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Laos**<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Morocco<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Malaysia<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Myanmar<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Maldives<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Pakistan<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Mauritania<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Russia<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Morocco<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Saudi Arabia<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Myanmar<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Singapore<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Pakistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Syria<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Qatar**<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Tajikistan*<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Russia<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Turkey*<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Saudi Arabia<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Uzbekistan<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Singapore<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Vietnam<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Syria<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Western Sahara*<\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Uzbekistan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\"><\/td><td data-prc-v-col=\"1\">Vietnam<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__download-data-button-hr\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__download-data-button\">\n\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\trole=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"has-sans-serif-font-family\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\tDownload data as .csv\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">* Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; government restrictions in 2022 but not in 2023. <br>** (or bold) Country had &#8220;very high&#8221; government restrictions in 2023 but not in 2022.<br>Note: Myanmar is also called Burma. <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons\" style=\"max-width:310px;\"><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__tabs\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-chart-id=\"ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Chart<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-chart-id=\"ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Data<\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__actions\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--download-image\" data-chart-id=\"ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadImage\">Download Image<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--share\" data-chart-view=\"share\" data-chart-id=\"ae1fed7b-22e5-4b3b-93ff-b56a631e1395\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Share<\/button><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the countries with very high GRI scores in 2023 were China, Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria and Uzbekistan. Each of these six countries had a GRI score of at least 7.8, placing them firmly in the very high category.[5. Uzbekistan\u2019s raw GRI score was 7.77 but rounded to 7.8.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, four countries \u2013 Belarus, Brunei, Laos and Qatar \u2013 moved into the very high category from the high category in 2022. However, all four had GRI increases of less than 1 point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Laos, where Buddhism is the majority religion, the GRI score rose by 0.8 (from 5.9 to 6.7) in part due to reports that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/laos\/\">local authorities displaced or detained Christians who withstood pressure to renounce their faith and damaged their properties<\/a>. In October, for example, authorities in the Sa Mouay district allegedly forced at least eight families from their villages and destroyed their homes after the families converted to Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Qatar\u2019s score increased from 6.1 to 6.6 partly because of government actions toward religious minorities. Members of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/qatar\/\">Baha\u2019i community in the country reported<\/a> that the government limited their economic opportunities and tried to intimidate them, causing some Baha\u2019is to leave the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three countries \u2013 Tajikistan, Turkey and Western Sahara \u2013 dropped from the very high category in 2022 into the high category in 2023. However, all had relatively small numerical decreases amounting to less than 1 point on the GRI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"changes-in-scores-on-the-government-restrictions-index\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Changes in scores on the Government Restrictions Index<\/h4>\n\n\n<div class=\"alignright wp-block-prc-chart-builder-synced-chart\"><figure class=\"wp-chart-builder\">\t\t<div style=\"max-width:310px\" class=\"wp-chart-builder-wrapper alignnone wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller--freeform wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller\" id=\"9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583\" data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/controller\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583&quot;,&quot;postId&quot;:310673,&quot;postUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/religion\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;chartPostUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/chart\\\/changes-on-the-gri-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;postPubDate&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15&quot;,&quot;rootUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org&quot;,&quot;featuredImageId&quot;:316766,&quot;featuredImageUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/changes_on_the_gri_in_2023-308946-1781283348.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Changes on the GRI in 2023&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Changes on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) from 2022 to 2023&quot;,&quot;note&quot;:&quot;Note: Point changes are calculated by comparing GRI scores from year to year. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.&quot;,&quot;source&quot;:&quot;Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.&lt;br&gt;\\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\\u201d&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;PEW RESEARCH CENTER&quot;,&quot;tableData&quot;:{&quot;header&quot;:[&quot;Point change&quot;,&quot;Number of countries&quot;,&quot;% of countries&quot;],&quot;rows&quot;:[[&quot;2.0 or more increase&quot;,&quot;0&quot;,&quot;0%&quot;],[&quot;1.0 to 1.9 increase&quot;,&quot;6&quot;,&quot;3%&quot;],[&quot;0.1 to 0.9 increase&quot;,&quot;88&quot;,&quot;44%&quot;],[&quot;No change&quot;,&quot;36&quot;,&quot;18%&quot;],[&quot;0.1 to 0.9 decrease&quot;,&quot;65&quot;,&quot;33%&quot;],[&quot;1.0 to 1.9 decrease&quot;,&quot;3&quot;,&quot;2%&quot;],[&quot;2.0 or more decrease&quot;,&quot;0&quot;,&quot;0%&quot;],[&quot;Total&quot;,&quot;198&quot;,&quot;100%&quot;]],&quot;footer&quot;:[]},&quot;isFreeformChart&quot;:true}\" data-wp-init--detect-web-share-support=\"callbacks.detectWebShareSupport\" data-wp-init--sync-table-height=\"callbacks.syncTableHeight\" data-wp-init--watch-chart=\"callbacks.watchChart\" data-wp-init--reset-tab-on-navigation=\"callbacks.resetTabOnNavigation\" data-png-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/changes_on_the_gri_in_2023-308946-1781283348.png\" data-has-csv=\"true\" data-allow-data-download=\"true\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\/\" data-chart-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/chart\/changes-on-the-gri-in-2023\/\" data-chart-title=\"Changes on the GRI in 2023\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-allow-overlay=\"true\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__text-wrapper\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Changes on the GRI in 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Changes on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) from 2022 to 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-group wp-chart-builder-freeform-chart has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=310433\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e5d5c9\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e5d5c9;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"622\" height=\"434\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_changesGRI@2x.png?resize=480,335 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_changesGRI@2x.png?resize=622,434 622w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/Chapter1_changesGRI@2x.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-310433 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: Point changes are calculated by comparing GRI scores from year to year. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 10px 0 0px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- register a callback on this div to see if the native share is supported -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__overlay\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"share-modal__overlay-9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t><\/div>\n\t\t\t<!-- TODO: I would like to be able to use the social share block here. Need to modify it to work with the share modal. -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal\" id=\"share-modal-9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"share-modal__title\">Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"share-modal__close\" aria-label=\"Close Share Modal\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dashicons dashicons-no-alt\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--twitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on X<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--facebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on Facebook<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\" id=\"9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583-table\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Changes on the GRI in 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Changes on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) from 2022 to 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table__inner\" style=\"max-width: 310px !important; margin-bottom: 0; overflow: auto;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-prc-block-table is-scroll-on-pc is-scroll-on-mobile chart-builder-data-table has-sans-serif-font-family has-small-font-size\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout is-sticky-first-column\"><thead><tr><th>Point change<\/th><th style=\"text-align:center\">Number of countries<\/th><th style=\"text-align:center\">% of countries<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">2.0 or more increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">0<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">0%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">1.0 to 1.9 increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">6<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">3%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">0.1 to 0.9 increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">88<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">44%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">No change<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">36<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">18%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">0.1 to 0.9 decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">65<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">33%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">1.0 to 1.9 decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">3<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">2%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">2.0 or more decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">0<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">0%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Total<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">198<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">100%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__download-data-button-hr\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__download-data-button\">\n\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\trole=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"has-sans-serif-font-family\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\tDownload data as .csv\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: Point changes are calculated by comparing GRI scores from year to year. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons\" style=\"max-width:310px;\"><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__tabs\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-chart-id=\"9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Chart<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-chart-id=\"9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Data<\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__actions\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--download-image\" data-chart-id=\"9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadImage\">Download Image<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--share\" data-chart-view=\"share\" data-chart-id=\"9c42fab0-51f0-4a5d-8fe7-25d078ecb583\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Share<\/button><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 2022 to 2023, 162 countries and territories had changes in their GRI scores of at least 0.1 point, including 94 with <em>increases<\/em> and 68 with <em>decreases<\/em>. Thirty-six countries had no change in their overall scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, more than three-quarters of countries \u2013 153 out of 198 \u2013 had only small changes (0.1 to 0.9 points) on the GRI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nine countries had modest changes (1.0 to 1.9 points), including six with modest increases and three with modest decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No country had a change of 2.0 points or more on the GRI in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;changes-in-combined-scores-on-both-indexes&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" id=\"changes-in-combined-scores-on-both-indexes\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Changes in combined scores on both indexes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the two indexes are combined by adding each country\u2019s GRI score to its SHI score, 114 countries and territories show overall increases in their <em>combined scores<\/em> from 2022 to 2023, including 92 with small increases (between 0.1 and 0.9 points) and 20 countries with modest increases (1.0 to 1.9 points). <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"alignright wp-block-prc-chart-builder-synced-chart\"><figure class=\"wp-chart-builder\">\t\t<div style=\"max-width:310px\" class=\"wp-chart-builder-wrapper alignnone wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller--freeform wp-block-prc-chart-builder-controller\" id=\"73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b\" data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/controller\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b&quot;,&quot;postId&quot;:310673,&quot;postUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/religion\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/15\\\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;chartPostUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/chart\\\/overall-changes-in-global-restrictions-on-religion-in-2023\\\/&quot;,&quot;postPubDate&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15&quot;,&quot;rootUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org&quot;,&quot;featuredImageId&quot;:316769,&quot;featuredImageUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/beta.pewresearch.org\\\/pewresearch-org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/overall_changes_in_global_restrictions_on_religion_in_2023-308972-1781283369.png&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Overall changes in global restrictions on religion in 2023&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Changes on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) or Social Hostilities Index (SHI) from 2022 to 2023&quot;,&quot;note&quot;:&quot;Note: Categories of overall change in restrictions are calculated by comparing a country&#039;s unrounded scores on the GRI and SHI from year to year. When a country&#039;s score on both indexes changed in the same direction (both increased or both decreased), the greater amount of change determined the category. For instance, if the country&#039;s GRI score increased by 0.8 points and its SHI score increased by 1.5 points, the country was put into the \\&quot;1.0 to 1.9 increase\\&quot; category. When a country&#039;s score increased on one index but decreased on the other, the difference between the amounts of change determined the grouping. For example, if the country&#039;s GRI score increased by 2.0 points and its SHI score decreased by 1.5 points, the country went into the \\&quot;O.1 to 0.9 increase\\&quot; category. When a country&#039;s score on one index stayed the same, the amount of change on the other index was used to assign the category. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.&quot;,&quot;source&quot;:&quot;Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.&lt;br&gt;\\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\\u201d&quot;,&quot;tag&quot;:&quot;PEW RESEARCH CENTER&quot;,&quot;tableData&quot;:{&quot;header&quot;:[&quot;Point change&quot;,&quot;Number of countries&quot;,&quot;% of countries&quot;],&quot;rows&quot;:[[&quot;2.0 or more increase&quot;,&quot;2&quot;,&quot;1%&quot;],[&quot;1.0 to 1.9 increase&quot;,&quot;20&quot;,&quot;10%&quot;],[&quot;0.1 to 0.9 increase&quot;,&quot;92&quot;,&quot;46%&quot;],[&quot;No change&quot;,&quot;18&quot;,&quot;9%&quot;],[&quot;0.1 to 0.9 decrease&quot;,&quot;56&quot;,&quot;28%&quot;],[&quot;1.0 to 1.9 decrease&quot;,&quot;10&quot;,&quot;5%&quot;],[&quot;2.0 or more decrease&quot;,&quot;0&quot;,&quot;0%&quot;],[&quot;Total&quot;,&quot;198&quot;,&quot;100%&quot;]],&quot;footer&quot;:[]},&quot;isFreeformChart&quot;:true}\" data-wp-init--detect-web-share-support=\"callbacks.detectWebShareSupport\" data-wp-init--sync-table-height=\"callbacks.syncTableHeight\" data-wp-init--watch-chart=\"callbacks.watchChart\" data-wp-init--reset-tab-on-navigation=\"callbacks.resetTabOnNavigation\" data-png-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/06\/overall_changes_in_global_restrictions_on_religion_in_2023-308972-1781283369.png\" data-has-csv=\"true\" data-allow-data-download=\"true\" data-post-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2026\/06\/15\/number-of-countries-with-high-or-very-high-social-hostilities-rose-in-2023\/\" data-chart-url=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/chart\/overall-changes-in-global-restrictions-on-religion-in-2023\/\" data-chart-title=\"Overall changes in global restrictions on religion in 2023\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-allow-overlay=\"true\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__text-wrapper\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Overall changes in global restrictions on religion in 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Changes on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) or Social Hostilities Index (SHI) from 2022 to 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"wp-block-group wp-chart-builder-freeform-chart has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=308981\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e5d5c9\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e5d5c9;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"431\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/05\/Chapter1_changesOverall@2x.png?resize=480,334 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/05\/Chapter1_changesOverall@2x.png?resize=620,431 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2026\/05\/Chapter1_changesOverall@2x.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-308981 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: Categories of overall change in restrictions are calculated by comparing a country&#8217;s unrounded scores on the GRI and SHI from year to year. When a country&#8217;s score on both indexes changed in the same direction (both increased or both decreased), the greater amount of change determined the category. For instance, if the country&#8217;s GRI score increased by 0.8 points and its SHI score increased by 1.5 points, the country was put into the &#8220;1.0 to 1.9 increase&#8221; category. When a country&#8217;s score increased on one index but decreased on the other, the difference between the amounts of change determined the grouping. For example, if the country&#8217;s GRI score increased by 2.0 points and its SHI score decreased by 1.5 points, the country went into the &#8220;O.1 to 0.9 increase&#8221; category. When a country&#8217;s score on one index stayed the same, the amount of change on the other index was used to assign the category. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__hr\" style=\"margin: 10px 0 0px; max-width:310px;\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- register a callback on this div to see if the native share is supported -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__overlay\"\n\t\t\t\tid=\"share-modal__overlay-73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.hideModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t><\/div>\n\t\t\t<!-- TODO: I would like to be able to use the social share block here. Need to modify it to work with the share modal. -->\n\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal\" id=\"share-modal-73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--web-share-supported=\"state.webShareSupported\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-chart-view=\"share\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"share-modal__title\">Share this chart<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"share-modal__close\" aria-label=\"Close Share Modal\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.hideModal\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dashicons dashicons-no-alt\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"share-modal__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--twitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareTwitter\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on X<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"share-modal__button share-modal__button--facebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.shareFacebook\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Share on Facebook<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\" id=\"73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b-table\" style=\"max-width:310px;\">\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 0px 0px 10px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__title\" data-meta-field=\"title\">Overall changes in global restrictions on religion in 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__subtitle\" data-meta-field=\"subtitle\">Changes on the Government Restrictions Index (GRI) or Social Hostilities Index (SHI) from 2022 to 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-chart-builder-table__inner\" style=\"max-width: 310px !important; margin-bottom: 0; overflow: auto;\">\n\t\t\t\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-prc-block-table is-scroll-on-pc is-scroll-on-mobile chart-builder-data-table has-sans-serif-font-family has-small-font-size\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout is-sticky-first-column\"><thead><tr><th>Point change<\/th><th style=\"text-align:center\">Number of countries<\/th><th style=\"text-align:center\">% of countries<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">2.0 or more increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">2<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">1%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">1.0 to 1.9 increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">20<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">10%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">0.1 to 0.9 increase<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">92<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">46%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">No change<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">18<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">9%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">0.1 to 0.9 decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">56<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">28%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">1.0 to 1.9 decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">10<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">5%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">2.0 or more decrease<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">0<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">0%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td data-prc-v-col=\"0\">Total<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"1\">198<\/td><td style=\"text-align:center\" data-prc-v-col=\"2\">100%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<hr class=\"cb__download-data-button-hr\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__download-data-button\">\n\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.downloadData\"\n\t\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"0\"\n\t\t\t\t\trole=\"button\"\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"has-sans-serif-font-family\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\tDownload data as .csv\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-wp-interactive=\"prc-chart-builder\/chart\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b-chart&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--note\" data-meta-field=\"note\">Note: Categories of overall change in restrictions are calculated by comparing a country&#8217;s unrounded scores on the GRI and SHI from year to year. When a country&#8217;s score on both indexes changed in the same direction (both increased or both decreased), the greater amount of change determined the category. For instance, if the country&#8217;s GRI score increased by 0.8 points and its SHI score increased by 1.5 points, the country was put into the &#8220;1.0 to 1.9 increase&#8221; category. When a country&#8217;s score increased on one index but decreased on the other, the difference between the amounts of change determined the grouping. For example, if the country&#8217;s GRI score increased by 2.0 points and its SHI score decreased by 1.5 points, the country went into the &#8220;O.1 to 0.9 increase&#8221; category. When a country&#8217;s score on one index stayed the same, the amount of change on the other index was used to assign the category. Figures may not add to 100% or to subtotals indicated due to rounding.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__note cb__note--source\" data-meta-field=\"source\">Source: Pew Research Center analysis of external data. Refer to the Methodology for details.<br>\u201cMore Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"cb__tag\" data-meta-field=\"tag\">PEW RESEARCH CENTER<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<hr style=\"margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 310px;\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons\" style=\"max-width:310px;\"><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__tabs\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--chart\" data-chart-view=\"chart\" data-chart-id=\"73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Chart<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--table\" data-chart-view=\"table\" data-chart-id=\"73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Data<\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-chart-builder-view-buttons__actions\"><button class=\"view-button view-button--download-image\" data-chart-id=\"73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.downloadImage\">Download Image<\/button><button class=\"view-button view-button--share\" data-chart-view=\"share\" data-chart-id=\"73ecbf96-26f6-4b94-9ed7-bb0a203f6c2b\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.setActiveTab\" data-wp-class--active=\"state.isActive\">Share<\/button><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only two countries \u2013 Argentina and Sweden \u2013 had <em>large increases <\/em>(2.0 points or more) in their combined scores.[6. Sweden\u2019s overall change was 1.98, which is rounded to 2.0 and is categorized as a large change. For more on how categories of overall change are calculated, refer to the note in the chart titled \u201cOverall changes in global restrictions on religion in 2023.\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Sweden, the increase stems in part from the repeated desecrations of the Quran that took place across Stockholm in 2023. Although Sweden\u2019s Foreign Ministry condemned the burning of the Quran as Islamophobic and offensive, Swedish courts ruled that police attempts to \u201cdeny or relocate\u201d the demonstrations were \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/sweden\/\">unlawful limitations of free speech and assembly<\/a>,\u201d according to the U.S. State Department\u2019s 2023 report on International Religious Freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this study, the anti-Muslim demonstrations in Sweden in 2023 are counted both as social hostilities involving religion <em>and<\/em> as government restrictions on religion, because Swedish authorities approved permits that mentioned the burning of religious books.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Argentina also had a large increase in its combined SHI and GRI score, in part due to incidents in which Muslims were verbally or physically harassed in public. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/reports\/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom\/argentina\/\">a Muslim woman was detained by airport officials for wearing a hijab<\/a> and was required to undress in front of female officers. The airport security office later issued a formal apology, according to the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, 66 countries saw <em>decreases<\/em> in their combined SHI and GRI scores, including 56 with small decreases (0.1 to 0.9 points) and 10 with modest decreases (1.0 to 1.9 points). No country had a large decrease (2.0 points or more) in its combined score. A total of 18 countries had no changes in their combined scores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The six countries with very high social hostilities involving religion were Nigeria, India, Israel, Syria, Bangladesh and 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