Freedom of Association Index in Barbados
Barbados: Freedom of Association Index was 0.879 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Freedom of Association Index in Barbados, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Barbados recorded 0.879 for freedom of association index in 2025.
The figure is down 0.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom of association index in Barbados peaked at 0.888 in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.269, in 1900.
Barbados ranks 29th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Freedom of Association Index in Barbados, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.269 | — |
| 1901 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.269 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.324 | +20.4% |
| 1939 | 0.324 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.324 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 0.324 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.324 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.324 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.324 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0.414 | +27.8% |
| 1946 | 0.518 | +25.1% |
| 1947 | 0.518 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0.518 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.518 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.518 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 0.437 | -15.6% |
| 1952 | 0.759 | +73.7% |
| 1953 | 0.759 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 0.759 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 0.759 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 0.794 | +4.6% |
| 1957 | 0.779 | -1.9% |
| 1958 | 0.779 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.779 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.779 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 0.781 | +0.3% |
| 1962 | 0.807 | +3.3% |
| 1963 | 0.807 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.807 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.807 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.88 | +9.0% |
| 1967 | 0.881 | +0.1% |
| 1968 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.882 | +0.1% |
| 1973 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.883 | +0.1% |
| 1978 | 0.883 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.883 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0.883 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 0.881 | -0.2% |
| 1982 | 0.88 | -0.1% |
| 1983 | 0.88 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.88 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.88 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.879 | -0.1% |
| 1987 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 0.882 | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 0.883 | +0.1% |
| 1993 | 0.883 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.882 | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.882 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.881 | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.88 | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 0.879 | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.887 | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 0.888 | +0.1% |
| 2010 | 0.888 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.888 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.888 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.888 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.888 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.884 | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 0.884 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.884 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.871 | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 0.879 | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 0.879 | +0.0% |
Barbados compared with similar countries
- Barbados's 0.879 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.868, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Barbados's 0.879 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.839, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.269 | 0.269 | 0.269 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.269 | 0.269 | 0.269 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.269 | 0.269 | 0.269 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.28 | 0.269 | 0.324 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.4106 | 0.324 | 0.518 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.7122 | 0.437 | 0.794 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.8311 | 0.779 | 0.881 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.8821 | 0.881 | 0.883 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.88 | 0.879 | 0.883 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.8818 | 0.879 | 0.883 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8814 | 0.879 | 0.888 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8842 | 0.871 | 0.888 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.879 | 0.879 | 0.879 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Barbados
More social development data for Barbados
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 5 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 577 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 577 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is freedom of association index in Barbados?
- Freedom of association index in Barbados was 0.879 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom of association index recorded in Barbados?
- The highest recorded value was 0.888 in 2009.
- What is the lowest freedom of association index recorded in Barbados?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.269 in 1900.
- How does Barbados rank for freedom of association index?
- Barbados ranks 29th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom of association index rising or falling in Barbados?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Barbados data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent to which parties, including opposition parties, are allowed to form and participate in elections and the extent to which civil society organizations are allowed to form and operate freely.