Workers’ rights are in free fall across every continent, according to the 2025 ITUC Global Rights Index, with Europe and the Americas recording their worst scores since the Index began in 2014. Just seven countries now have the top rating of 1 for their respect for workers’ rights, compared with 39 rated 5.
If the current trend continues, no countries will hold a rating of 1 within the next ten years.
Key findings include:
- Three out of five global regions saw conditions worsen; the Americas (3.68) and Europe (2.78) hit their worst scores on record. Europe continued a rapid deterioration from 1.84 in 2014 – the biggest decline seen in any region worldwide over the past 10 years.
- Only seven out of the 151 countries surveyed (fewer than 5%) earned a top-tier rating of 1 – down from 18 a decade ago.
- The 10 worst countries for workers are: Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Myanmar, Nigeria (NEW), the Philippines, Tunisia, and Türkiye.
- The worst region in the world for working people is the Middle East and North Africa, with an average rating of 4.68.
- Deaths of trade unionists were recorded in Cameroon, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and South Africa.
- 87% of countries violated the right to strike; 80% violated the right to collective bargaining.
- Workers’ access to justice was restricted in 72% of countries, the worst level ever recorded.
“Governments have collaborated in decades of deregulation, neoliberalism, and neglect, leading to the collapse of workers’ rights. This has disenfranchised millions and paved the way for extremism, authoritarianism and the billionaire coup against democracy that now threatens democracy itself.”
“If this pace of decline continues, in ten years there will be no country left in the world with the highest rating for its respect for workers’ rights. This is a global scandal, but it is not unavoidable; it is a deliberate decision that can be reversed.”
“That is why the ITUC is exposing the coordinated attack by the ultra-rich and their political allies to rig economies against working people. It is not inevitable that workers’ rights will worsen in the 2026 Rights Index.”
