In 2023, the percentage of people in the region living in Crisis countries rose to 76% when India shifted into the lowest expression category, bringing with it 1.4 billion people.

Even with this major population shift into the lowest expression category, both the Expression Score (42) and Human Score (20) for the region remained unchanged over the last year (2022–2023).

More than 2 in 5 (45%) countries in this region have seen a deterioration of their freedom of expression over the last decade.

In the last year, 55 million people in 2 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression; 95 million people in 3 countries saw improvement.

Mongolia saw the largest decline in the region during this timeframe (-10 points), while Fiji saw the largest advance (+14 points).

Thailand also saw improvement this year, with a 6-point increase: a rebound from a significant drop in score over the last decade.

In the last 5 years, 3.1 billion people across 13 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression; only 73 million people across 3 countries saw improvements. 

The largest decline in the region between 2018–2023 was Afghanistan (-47 points). Maldives has seen a 26-point increase since 2018.  

In the last 10 years, 3.9 billion people across 14 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression; only 68 million people across 5 countries saw improvement .

The largest decline between 2013 and 2023 took place in Hong Kong (China): a 54-point drop. Fiji’s score increased by 18 points over the same timeframe.