Central Asian states, notably Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are striving to open up their economies to be more globally competitive.But their respective political systems remain steadfastly authoritarian, according to an annual assessment by the US watchdog organization Freedom House.
The group’s recently published annual report on global governance trends, titled Freedom in the World 2026: The Growing Shadow of Autocracy, lists all five Central Asian states as “not free.” No Central Asian country showed year-on-year improvement in its freedom score, as calculated by Freedom House.
Kyrgyzstan showed a slight decline, going from 26 in 2024 to 25 last year.The report also includes Kyrgyzstan among the states that have experienced the biggest declines in their freedom scores over the past two decades.
Assessing conditions in Uzbekistan (freedom score of 12 in 2025), the Freedom House report notes that “while reforms adopted since President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took office in 2016 have led to improvements on some issues, Uzbekistan remains an authoritarian state with few signs of democratization.” Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan (freedom score of 23), “the dominant media outlets are either in state hands or owned by government-friendly businessmen.
Freedoms of speech and assembly remain restricted and punished, and corruption is endemic,” the report states.Turkmenistan has retained its status as the world’s most repressive state, registering a freedom score of one.
North Korea’s freedom score, by contrast was three in the 2025 report.Freedom House gave Tajikistan a score of five.Country scores in the report range from zero to 100 and are based on assessments of political rights and civil liberties in each country.
In the Caucasus, Georgia (51) experienced a notable decline in its Freedom House score in 2025, falling behind Armenia (54), which is now the region’s most politically open state.
Both are categorized as “party free” by Freedom House.Writing about Georgia, the report states “oligarchic influence affects the country’s political affairs. …Corruption in government persists and media freedom is undermined by intimidation and pressure against journalists.” Azerbaijan was deemed “not free” with a score of six, down from seven in 2024.
The United States saw its Freedom House score fall three points over the past year, down to 81 from 84 in 2024.