Freedom Score in Burundi
Burundi: Freedom Score was 13 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Freedom Score in Burundi, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, freedom score in Burundi stood at 13. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of down 13.3% on the previous year and down 31.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom score in Burundi peaked at 49 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 13, in 2019.
That places Burundi 171st out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Freedom Score in Burundi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 27 | — |
| 2003 | 29 | +7.4% |
| 2004 | 29 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 49 | +69.0% |
| 2006 | 45 | -8.2% |
| 2007 | 45 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 43 | -4.4% |
| 2009 | 45 | +4.7% |
| 2010 | 35 | -22.2% |
| 2011 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 34 | -2.9% |
| 2013 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 32 | -5.9% |
| 2015 | 19 | -40.6% |
| 2016 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 18 | -5.3% |
| 2018 | 14 | -22.2% |
| 2019 | 13 | -7.1% |
| 2020 | 14 | +7.7% |
| 2021 | 14 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 14 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 14 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 15 | +7.1% |
| 2025 | 13 | -13.3% |
Burundi compared with similar countries
- Burundi's 13 is below the median for low income countries, which is 18, 72% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Burundi's 13 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 35, 37% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Freedom Score in Burundi changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +69.0% | 29 | 49 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 39 | 27 | 49 | 8 |
| 2010s | 25.3 | 13 | 35 | 10 |
| 2020s | 14 | 13 | 15 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Burundi
More social development data for Burundi
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 110,800 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 318,291 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0221 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 318,291 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0077 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 score in Burundi?
- Freedom score in Burundi was 13 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom score recorded in Burundi?
- The highest recorded value was 49 in 2005.
- What is the lowest freedom score recorded in Burundi?
- The lowest recorded value was 13 in 2019.
- How does Burundi rank for freedom score?
- Burundi ranks 171st out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom score rising or falling in Burundi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 31.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Burundi data come from?
- The figures come from Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Freedom House’s freedom score captures the extent of free and fair elections, political pluralism and participation, a functioning government, freedom of expression and association, the rule of law, and personal autonomy. Higher scores indicate more freedom.