Freedom Score in Rwanda
Rwanda: Freedom Score was 21 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Freedom Score in Rwanda, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, freedom score in Rwanda stood at 21. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of down 12.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom score in Rwanda peaked at 34 in 2007 and was at its lowest, 21, in 2020.
That places Rwanda 158th 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 Rwanda, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 22 | — |
| 2003 | 30 | +36.4% |
| 2004 | 31 | +3.3% |
| 2005 | 32 | +3.2% |
| 2006 | 33 | +3.1% |
| 2007 | 34 | +3.0% |
| 2008 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 27 | -20.6% |
| 2011 | 25 | -7.4% |
| 2012 | 24 | -4.0% |
| 2013 | 26 | +8.3% |
| 2014 | 25 | -3.8% |
| 2015 | 24 | -4.0% |
| 2016 | 24 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 23 | -4.2% |
| 2018 | 23 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 22 | -4.3% |
| 2020 | 21 | -4.5% |
| 2021 | 22 | +4.8% |
| 2022 | 23 | +4.5% |
| 2023 | 23 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 21 | -8.7% |
| 2025 | 21 | +0.0% |
Rwanda compared with similar countries
- Rwanda's 21 is above the median for low income countries, which is 18, 1.2× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Rwanda's 21 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 35, 60% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Freedom Score in Rwanda 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | +36.4% | 22 | 30 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 31.25 | 22 | 34 | 8 |
| 2010s | 24.3 | 22 | 27 | 10 |
| 2020s | 21.83 | 21 | 23 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
More social development data for Rwanda
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 115,794 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 244,415 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0168 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 244,415 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0079 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 Rwanda?
- Freedom score in Rwanda was 21 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom score recorded in Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 34 in 2007.
- What is the lowest freedom score recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 21 in 2020.
- How does Rwanda rank for freedom score?
- Rwanda ranks 158th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom score rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Rwanda 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.