Freedom Score in Malawi
Malawi: Freedom Score was 68 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Freedom Score in Malawi, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 68 for freedom score in 2025. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.6% on the previous year and up 6.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom score in Malawi peaked at 68 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 55, in 2002.
Malawi ranks 89th of 197 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Freedom Score in Malawi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 55 | — |
| 2003 | 57 | +3.6% |
| 2004 | 57 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 57 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 58 | +1.8% |
| 2007 | 57 | -1.7% |
| 2008 | 57 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 60 | +5.3% |
| 2010 | 60 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 57 | -5.0% |
| 2012 | 60 | +5.3% |
| 2013 | 60 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 61 | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 64 | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 63 | -1.6% |
| 2017 | 63 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 64 | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 62 | -3.1% |
| 2020 | 66 | +6.5% |
| 2021 | 66 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 66 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 66 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 65 | -1.5% |
| 2025 | 68 | +4.6% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 68 is above the median for low income countries, which is 18, 3.8× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 68 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 35, 1.9× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 57.25 | 55 | 60 | 8 |
| 2010s | 61.4 | 57 | 64 | 10 |
| 2020s | 66.17 | 65 | 68 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
- 89 Montenegro 68 compare
- 91 Dominican Republic 67 compare
- 91 Lesotho 67 compare
- 91 North Macedonia 67 compare
More social development data for Malawi
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 35,241 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 551 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate -33.33 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (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 551 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0016 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 Malawi?
- Freedom score in Malawi was 68 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom score recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 68 in 2025.
- What is the lowest freedom score recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 55 in 2002.
- How does Malawi rank for freedom score?
- Malawi ranks 89th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom score rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi 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 total democracy score is a 0-to-100 aggregate that adds up a country's points on 25 indicators of political rights (max 40) and civil liberties (max 60), creating a single snapshot of the freedoms people actually enjoy.