Government and social interference with religious practice decreased in 2014, but people of faith faced more threats from terrorist groups, according to Pew Research Center's latest report on global religious restrictions and hostilities.
"Of the 198 countries included in the study, 24 percent had high or very high levels of government restrictions in 2014 (the most recent year for which data are available), down from 28 percent in 2013," Pew reported. The share of countries with high or very high levels of social hostilities also dropped, from 27 percent to 23 percent.
The organization has released an annual review of religious restrictions since 2007, using research from the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the United Nations and independent, nongovernmental organizations.
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