10 Most Authoritarian Countries in Asia in 2021

According to the 2021 Democracy Index report released by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Afghanistan is the country with the lowest democracy index, or the most authoritarian, in Asia.

On a scale of 0-10, Afghanistan scored 0.32 on the democracy index.

Here are the 10 countries with the lowest democracy indices in Asia in 2021:

1. Afghanistan: score 0.32
2. Myanmar: score 1.02
3. North Korea: score 1.08
4. Syria: score 1.43
5. Turkmenistan: score 1.66
6. Laos: score 1.77
7. Tajikistan: score 1.94
8. Yemen: score 1.95
9. Iran: score 1.95
10. Saudi Arabia: score 2.08

The Taliban-led Afghanistan has stated that they will only implement Islamic Sharia law and will not implement a democratic system in the country.

Meanwhile, Myanmar ranks second with a democracy index score of 1.02. The country, which is experiencing a prolonged conflict due to a post-election coup, remains in a highly restrictive situation.

In its assessment, the EIU classifies countries into four regime categories: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime, and authoritarian regime.

All of the countries mentioned above are categorized as authoritarian regimes, characterized by severely limited political pluralism, unfair and unfree elections, disregard for civil liberties and freedoms, state-controlled media, and the absence of an independent judiciary.

(Also read: [2021 Global Democracy Index: Indonesia Still Considered Weak](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2022/02/14/indeks-demokrasi-dunia-2021-indonesia-masih-dinilai-lemah))