Global freedom is on a 19-year losing streak, according to an annual assessment published by a leading watchdog group. 

Freedom House’s “Freedom of the World 2025” report, released on February 26, states that political rights and civil liberties enjoyed by citizens “declined around the world for the 19th consecutive year in 2024.”

“In settings where conditions worsened, key factors driving the degradation in rights and liberties included violence and the repression of political opponents during elections, ongoing armed conflicts, and the spread of authoritarian practices,” according to the Freedom House report.

The report’s evaluation of developments in Eurasia did not inspire optimism. No country in the region showed improvement in its freedom score in 2024.

Georgia, where the government rejected western values and embraced authoritarian practices in 2024, was listed among the countries registering the largest year-on-year declines in Freedom House’s assessment. A major factor in the drop in Georgia’s ranking was Freedom House’s determination that Georgian officials engaged in manipulation and fraud to skew the results of last October’s parliamentary election. 

Meanwhile, Freedom House ranked Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as among the “worst of the worst” rights abusers. In addition, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia were counted among the states experiencing the largest erosion of rights over the past decade. 

Freedom House classified all the states of the Caucasus and Central Asia, except Georgia and Armenia, as “not free.” Georgia and Armenia received “partly free” designation. Armenia passed Georgia in 2024 to record Freedom House’s highest score of any state in the region.