What is freedom of association index in Belgium?

Freedom of association index in Belgium was 0.896 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest freedom of association index recorded in Belgium?

The highest recorded value was 0.912 in 1980.

What is the lowest freedom of association index recorded in Belgium?

The lowest recorded value was 0.071 in 1789.

How does Belgium rank for freedom of association index?

Belgium ranks 14th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is freedom of association index rising or falling in Belgium?

Over the last ten years it is down 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Belgium data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Freedom of Association Index in Belgium

Name: Freedom of Association Index in Belgium
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Belgium: Freedom of Association Index was 0.896 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.896

Change on year

up 0.1%

World rank

14th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.912

in 1980

All-time low

0.071

in 1789

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Freedom of Association Index in Belgium, 1789–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Belgium recorded 0.896 for freedom of association index in 2025.

The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and down 0.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, freedom of association index in Belgium peaked at 0.912 in 1980 and was at its lowest, 0.071, in 1789.

That places Belgium 14th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 237 years of available data.

Freedom of Association Index in Belgium, year by year

Annual values for Freedom of Association Index in Belgium, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.071	—
1790	0.071	+0.0%
1791	0.071	+0.0%
1792	0.071	+0.0%
1793	0.071	+0.0%
1794	0.071	+0.0%
1795	0.071	+0.0%
1796	0.411	+478.9%
1797	0.411	+0.0%
1798	0.408	-0.7%
1799	0.488	+19.6%
1800	0.132	-73.0%
1801	0.132	+0.0%
1802	0.132	+0.0%
1803	0.132	+0.0%
1804	0.132	+0.0%
1805	0.132	+0.0%
1806	0.132	+0.0%
1807	0.132	+0.0%
1808	0.132	+0.0%
1809	0.132	+0.0%
1810	0.132	+0.0%
1811	0.132	+0.0%
1812	0.132	+0.0%
1813	0.132	+0.0%
1814	0.192	+45.5%
1815	0.293	+52.6%
1816	0.293	+0.0%
1817	0.293	+0.0%
1818	0.293	+0.0%
1819	0.293	+0.0%
1820	0.293	+0.0%
1821	0.293	+0.0%
1822	0.293	+0.0%
1823	0.293	+0.0%
1824	0.293	+0.0%
1825	0.293	+0.0%
1826	0.293	+0.0%
1827	0.293	+0.0%
1828	0.293	+0.0%
1829	0.293	+0.0%
1830	0.345	+17.7%
1831	0.363	+5.2%
1832	0.363	+0.0%
1833	0.364	+0.3%
1834	0.364	+0.0%
1835	0.366	+0.5%
1836	0.366	+0.0%
1837	0.367	+0.3%
1838	0.367	+0.0%
1839	0.362	-1.4%
1840	0.667	+84.3%
1841	0.735	+10.2%
1842	0.735	+0.0%
1843	0.738	+0.4%
1844	0.738	+0.0%
1845	0.735	-0.4%
1846	0.735	+0.0%
1847	0.831	+13.1%
1848	0.83	-0.1%
1849	0.828	-0.2%
1850	0.829	+0.1%
1851	0.831	+0.2%
1852	0.83	-0.1%
1853	0.83	+0.0%
1854	0.829	-0.1%
1855	0.829	+0.0%
1856	0.83	+0.1%
1857	0.831	+0.1%
1858	0.83	-0.1%
1859	0.83	+0.0%
1860	0.83	+0.0%
1861	0.828	-0.2%
1862	0.826	-0.2%
1863	0.827	+0.1%
1864	0.83	+0.4%
1865	0.832	+0.2%
1866	0.829	-0.4%
1867	0.827	-0.2%
1868	0.827	+0.0%
1869	0.827	+0.0%
1870	0.831	+0.5%
1871	0.835	+0.5%
1872	0.832	-0.4%
1873	0.83	-0.2%
1874	0.83	+0.0%
1875	0.83	+0.0%
1876	0.83	+0.0%
1877	0.829	-0.1%
1878	0.829	+0.0%
1879	0.829	+0.0%
1880	0.831	+0.2%
1881	0.833	+0.2%
1882	0.832	-0.1%
1883	0.832	+0.0%
1884	0.831	-0.1%
1885	0.831	+0.0%
1886	0.788	-5.2%
1887	0.787	-0.1%
1888	0.786	-0.1%
1889	0.786	+0.0%
1890	0.787	+0.1%
1891	0.787	+0.0%
1892	0.788	+0.1%
1893	0.837	+6.2%
1894	0.87	+3.9%
1895	0.873	+0.3%
1896	0.872	-0.1%
1897	0.871	-0.1%
1898	0.87	-0.1%
1899	0.869	-0.1%
1900	0.873	+0.5%
1901	0.876	+0.3%
1902	0.878	+0.2%
1903	0.88	+0.2%
1904	0.877	-0.3%
1905	0.876	-0.1%
1906	0.876	+0.0%
1907	0.877	+0.1%
1908	0.878	+0.1%
1909	0.878	+0.0%
1910	0.879	+0.1%
1911	0.88	+0.1%
1912	0.88	+0.0%
1913	0.88	+0.0%
1914	0.635	-27.8%
1915	0.513	-19.2%
1916	0.513	+0.0%
1917	0.513	+0.0%
1918	0.625	+21.8%
1919	0.803	+28.5%
1920	0.867	+8.0%
1921	0.867	+0.0%
1922	0.868	+0.1%
1923	0.868	+0.0%
1924	0.868	+0.0%
1925	0.869	+0.1%
1926	0.869	+0.0%
1927	0.869	+0.0%
1928	0.869	+0.0%
1929	0.867	-0.2%
1930	0.862	-0.6%
1931	0.862	+0.0%
1932	0.861	-0.1%
1933	0.857	-0.5%
1934	0.857	+0.0%
1935	0.857	+0.0%
1936	0.86	+0.4%
1937	0.875	+1.7%
1938	0.875	+0.0%
1939	0.874	-0.1%
1940	0.514	-41.2%
1941	0.37	-28.0%
1942	0.37	+0.0%
1943	0.37	+0.0%
1944	0.393	+6.2%
1945	0.496	+26.2%
1946	0.878	+77.0%
1947	0.887	+1.0%
1948	0.887	+0.0%
1949	0.889	+0.2%
1950	0.889	+0.0%
1951	0.889	+0.0%
1952	0.889	+0.0%
1953	0.889	+0.0%
1954	0.889	+0.0%
1955	0.889	+0.0%
1956	0.889	+0.0%
1957	0.889	+0.0%
1958	0.89	+0.1%
1959	0.89	+0.0%
1960	0.89	+0.0%
1961	0.888	-0.2%
1962	0.899	+1.2%
1963	0.899	+0.0%
1964	0.899	+0.0%
1965	0.898	-0.1%
1966	0.898	+0.0%
1967	0.898	+0.0%
1968	0.896	-0.2%
1969	0.896	+0.0%
1970	0.896	+0.0%
1971	0.896	+0.0%
1972	0.898	+0.2%
1973	0.898	+0.0%
1974	0.899	+0.1%
1975	0.899	+0.0%
1976	0.899	+0.0%
1977	0.899	+0.0%
1978	0.899	+0.0%
1979	0.898	-0.1%
1980	0.912	+1.6%
1981	0.902	-1.1%
1982	0.9	-0.2%
1983	0.9	+0.0%
1984	0.9	+0.0%
1985	0.9	+0.0%
1986	0.899	-0.1%
1987	0.899	+0.0%
1988	0.9	+0.1%
1989	0.9	+0.0%
1990	0.9	+0.0%
1991	0.9	+0.0%
1992	0.902	+0.2%
1993	0.902	+0.0%
1994	0.902	+0.0%
1995	0.903	+0.1%
1996	0.904	+0.1%
1997	0.904	+0.0%
1998	0.904	+0.0%
1999	0.902	-0.2%
2000	0.901	-0.1%
2001	0.901	+0.0%
2002	0.901	+0.0%
2003	0.9	-0.1%
2004	0.862	-4.2%
2005	0.894	+3.7%
2006	0.894	+0.0%
2007	0.896	+0.2%
2008	0.897	+0.1%
2009	0.897	+0.0%
2010	0.897	+0.0%
2011	0.898	+0.1%
2012	0.898	+0.0%
2013	0.902	+0.4%
2014	0.901	-0.1%
2015	0.901	+0.0%
2016	0.901	+0.0%
2017	0.901	+0.0%
2018	0.901	+0.0%
2019	0.901	+0.0%
2020	0.901	+0.0%
2021	0.901	+0.0%
2022	0.901	+0.0%
2023	0.901	+0.0%
2024	0.895	-0.7%
2025	0.896	+0.1%

Belgium compared with similar countries

Belgium's 0.896 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.868, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Belgium's 0.896 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.8555, 1.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.071	0.071	0.071	1
1790s	0.2144	0.071	0.488	10
1800s	0.132	0.132	0.132	10
1810s	0.2185	0.132	0.293	10
1820s	0.293	0.293	0.293	10
1830s	0.3627	0.345	0.367	10
1840s	0.7572	0.667	0.831	10
1850s	0.8299	0.829	0.831	10
1860s	0.8283	0.826	0.832	10
1870s	0.8305	0.829	0.835	10
1880s	0.8137	0.786	0.833	10
1890s	0.8424	0.787	0.873	10
1900s	0.8769	0.873	0.88	10
1910s	0.7121	0.513	0.88	10
1920s	0.8681	0.867	0.869	10
1930s	0.864	0.857	0.875	10
1940s	0.6054	0.37	0.889	10
1950s	0.8892	0.889	0.89	10
1960s	0.8961	0.888	0.899	10
1970s	0.8981	0.896	0.899	10
1980s	0.9012	0.899	0.912	10
1990s	0.9023	0.9	0.904	10
2000s	0.8943	0.862	0.901	10
2010s	0.9001	0.897	0.902	10
2020s	0.8992	0.895	0.901	6

Countries ranked near Belgium

11 Estonia 0.908 compare
12 Malta 0.902 compare
12 Uruguay 0.902 compare
15 Luxembourg 0.895 compare
16 Cyprus 0.894 compare
17 Taiwan 0.892 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Belgium

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 186,393 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 113 (2025)
Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 113 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0156 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)

All data for Belgium →

Frequently asked questions

What is freedom of association index in Belgium?: Freedom of association index in Belgium was 0.896 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest freedom of association index recorded in Belgium?: The highest recorded value was 0.912 in 1980.
What is the lowest freedom of association index recorded in Belgium?: The lowest recorded value was 0.071 in 1789.
How does Belgium rank for freedom of association index?: Belgium ranks 14th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is freedom of association index rising or falling in Belgium?: Over the last ten years it is down 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Belgium data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Freedom of Association Index in Belgium. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 07 October 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/freedom-of-association-index/belgium/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/freedom-of-association-index/belgium/">Freedom of Association Index in Belgium</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Freedom of Association Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,011 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which parties, including opposition parties, are allowed to form and participate in elections and the extent to which civil society organizations are allowed to form and operate freely.