Freedom of Association Score in South Korea
South Korea: Freedom of Association Score was 6 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Freedom of Association Score in South Korea, 2005–2025
Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 6 for freedom of association score in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of down 14.3% on the previous year and down 14.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom of association score in South Korea peaked at 8 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 6, in 2025.
South Korea ranks 46th of 128 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Freedom of Association Score in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 8 | — |
| 2007 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 7 | -12.5% |
| 2017 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 6 | -14.3% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 6 is below the median for high income countries, which is 8, 75% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 6 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 2.5, 2.4× the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 3 |
| 2010s | 7.4 | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| 2020s | 6.67 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More social development data for South Korea
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 4,407 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 117 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (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 117 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is freedom of association score in South Korea?
- Freedom of association score in South Korea was 6 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom of association score recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 8 in 2005.
- What is the lowest freedom of association score recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 6 in 2025.
- How does South Korea rank for freedom of association score?
- South Korea ranks 46th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom of association score rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Association Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Indicates the extent to which residents and civic groups are free from government interference to associate and assemble.