Freedom Score in Mauritania
Mauritania: Freedom Score was 38 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Freedom Score in Mauritania, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Mauritania recorded 38 for freedom score in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.6% on the previous year and up 26.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom score in Mauritania peaked at 52 in 2007 and was at its lowest, 30, in 2015.
That places Mauritania 132nd out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Freedom Score in Mauritania, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 41 | — |
| 2003 | 35 | -14.6% |
| 2004 | 33 | -5.7% |
| 2005 | 38 | +15.2% |
| 2006 | 46 | +21.1% |
| 2007 | 52 | +13.0% |
| 2008 | 32 | -38.5% |
| 2009 | 34 | +6.2% |
| 2010 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 33 | -2.9% |
| 2012 | 34 | +3.0% |
| 2013 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 31 | -8.8% |
| 2015 | 30 | -3.2% |
| 2016 | 30 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 30 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 32 | +6.7% |
| 2019 | 34 | +6.2% |
| 2020 | 35 | +2.9% |
| 2021 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 36 | +2.9% |
| 2023 | 39 | +8.3% |
| 2024 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 38 | -2.6% |
Mauritania compared with similar countries
- Mauritania's 38 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 41, 93% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Mauritania's 38 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 35, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Freedom Score in Mauritania 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | -38.5% | 52 | 32 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 38.88 | 32 | 52 | 8 |
| 2010s | 32.2 | 30 | 34 | 10 |
| 2020s | 37 | 35 | 39 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Mauritania
More social development data for Mauritania
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 301,490 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 43,906 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 5 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 5 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0083 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 43,906 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0567 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 Mauritania?
- Freedom score in Mauritania was 38 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom score recorded in Mauritania?
- The highest recorded value was 52 in 2007.
- What is the lowest freedom score recorded in Mauritania?
- The lowest recorded value was 30 in 2015.
- How does Mauritania rank for freedom score?
- Mauritania ranks 132nd out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom score rising or falling in Mauritania?
- Over the last ten years it is up 26.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Mauritania 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.