Central Asia Among the Least Free Regions in Freedom House’s 2025 Report

Freedom House has published its 2025 Freedom in the World report, assessing political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries and 13 territories worldwide.

The report, which covers events from January 1 to December 31, 2024, is grounded in the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and highlights that freedom is most effectively protected in democratic societies, The Caspian Post reports citing The Times of Central Asia.

Countries are assessed on a 100-point scale, with higher scores reflecting greater political and civil freedoms. Finland topped the ranking with 100 points, followed by New Zealand and Sweden with 99 points each. At the bottom were Tibet (0 points), Syria, and South Sudan (1 point each).

Central Asia: All Countries Remain ‘Not Free’

Despite variations in scores, all five Central Asian states remain near the bottom of the global ranking, reflecting ongoing restrictions on political participation, press freedom, and civil liberties.

All of the countries of Central Asia remain classified as “Not Free”:

• Kazakhstan - 23 points (5 in political rights, 18 in civil liberties)
• Kyrgyzstan - 26 points (4 in political rights, 22 in civil liberties)
• Tajikistan - 5 points (0 in political rights, 5 in civil liberties)
• Turkmenistan - 1 point (0 in political rights, 1 in civil liberties)
• Uzbekistan - 12 points (2 in political rights, 10 in civil liberties)