Georgia leads Europe in University of Oxford, Global Change Data Laboratory civil liberties index with 11 years of progress

Georgia has been ranked ninth in the world and first in Europe with its 11-year improvement in the latest civil liberties index released in collaboration between the Global Change Data Laboratory research organisation and the University of Oxford.

In 2012, the country was among the bottom three in Europe, along with Russia and Belarus, and ranking 101st in the world. Over the subsequent 11 years, Georgia has climbed 45 places in the ranking and is surpassing the European average of 86.85 percent with a score of 86.9 percent.

The report also highlights that Georgia is leading among its neighbouring countries and has outperformed several NATO and European Union member countries, including Hungary and Poland.

The index, based on a large-scale survey of Varieties of Democracy - an institution studying the qualities of governments - evaluates 179 countries and territories across the globe and assesses freedom from government torture, political assassinations, and forced labour, as well as freedoms of movement, religion, expression and association.