2026-03-03 · percent of world population
Europe scores high on civil liberties indices
Backsliding in spots does not erase the regional lead.
Freedom from torture, forced labor, and censorship isn't evenly shared. In 2026 V-Dem data, 70% of Europeans live in countries with high civil liberties scores, while 30% live where protections are weaker. Backsliding in spots hasn't erased Europe's lead — but it shows how quickly hard-won rights can fray.
1 cell = 0.1 percent of world population (0.1% of world population) · 1,000 cells
Context
The V-Dem Civil Liberties Index scores each country from 0 to 1 across physical integrity, private liberties like movement and religion, and political freedoms of expression and association. High scores cluster in Europe and the Americas, while the weakest protections concentrate in parts of Africa and Asia.
Globally, human rights are far better protected than a century ago, but progress has not been linear — setbacks in the 1970s and again in recent years show gains can reverse. Europe's lead holds because it is maintained, not because it is inevitable.
A high national score is a floor, not a guarantee: Our World in Data notes that even where civil liberties rank highly, people are still marginalized by gender, sexuality, or ethnicity.
V-Dem civil liberties index population shares.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-03-03-pol-civil-lib-europe