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World Watch

The State of Technology Regulation 2026

How 205 countries regulate technology across 8 policy topics. Every figure is computed from 6,523 dated records, each linked to an official source, and recomputed daily.

Cite this report
Original researchRecomputed dailyFree to cite (CC BY 4.0)
countries
205countries
policy topics
8policy topics
sourced records
6,523sourced records
named laws tracked
1,640named laws tracked

Key findings

  • 164of 205

    countries have a comprehensive data-protection law

    Data privacy is the most universally regulated domain: 80% of countries have a comprehensive statute, and only 7 have nothing at all.

  • 5of 205

    countries ban crypto outright

    Outright prohibition is rare. Far more common is active rule-building: 104 countries are developing a regime and 65 already have one.

  • 34of 205

    countries have a comprehensive AI law

    AI is the least mature domain. 60 countries have guidelines only, 58 have proposals in progress, and 39 have no AI rules at all.

  • 156of 205

    countries run a payments licensing regime

    Payments is the most settled commercial domain, with 76% of countries operating a formal licensing regime.

  • 57of 205

    countries offer a dedicated digital-nomad visa

    Most remote workers still arrive via another route: 108 countries have no dedicated visa but a workable alternative, while 38 offer no pathway.

  • 48of 205

    countries impose heavy online restrictions

    Online-safety regimes split sharply between content protection and content control: 34 countries have a comprehensive law while 48 operate heavy restrictions.

Regulatory activity is accelerating

Dated regulatory events recorded per year. Activity grew 264% between 2019 and 2025 (2026 is a partial year).

  • 2019302
  • 2020304
  • 2021406
  • 2022476
  • 2023629
  • 2024909
  • 20251,098
  • 2026563

Full breakdown by topic

Crypto & Digital Assets

Map
Developing10451%
Regulated6532%
Unclear2914%
Banned52%
Restricted21%

Artificial Intelligence

Map
Guidelines only6029%
Proposed5828%
No framework3919%
Comprehensive law3417%
Sectoral rules147%

Data & Privacy

Map
Comprehensive law16480%
Sectoral rules199%
Proposed157%
No framework73%

Digital Payments & Fintech

Map
Licensing regime15676%
Partial4723%
No framework10%
Proposed10%

Digital Nomad & Residency

Map
Via other route10853%
Dedicated visa5728%
No pathway3819%
Unclear21%

Internet & Online Safety

Map
Partial11456%
Heavy restriction4823%
Comprehensive law3417%
Proposed52%
No framework42%

Cybersecurity

Map
Comprehensive law9747%
Sectoral rules8943%
Proposed189%
No framework10%

Starting a Business

Map
Moderate12059%
Easy6934%
Restricted168%

Cite this research

Free to use for reporting and research under CC BY 4.0, with attribution and a link back.

Citation

Verma, A. (2026). The State of Technology Regulation. World Watch. Retrieved from https://worldwatch.global/state-of-regulation

Embed / attribution HTML

<a href="https://worldwatch.global/state-of-regulation">The State of Technology Regulation 2026</a> - World Watch by Anurag Verma

Methodology

Each country-topic pair is assigned a status from a fixed vocabulary, supported by a named primary law or regime and a dated timeline of decisions, enforcement actions and incidents. Records are gathered continuously from official channels: regulators, central banks, gazettes and government publications. Every one of the 6,523 records carries a source link. Figures on this page are recomputed daily from the live dataset.

Full definitions, status vocabularies, sourcing rules and update cadence are in the World Watch methodology. Corrections are welcome and applied to the live dataset.

Not legal advice. Statuses summarise a regime and can change. Explore the map