Freedom Score in Tonga
Tonga: Freedom Score was 79 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Freedom Score in Tonga, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Tonga recorded 79 for freedom score in 2025.
The figure is down 1.2% on the previous year and up 5.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom score in Tonga peaked at 81 in 2022 and was at its lowest, 55, in 2006.
Tonga ranks 73rd 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 Tonga, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 59 | — |
| 2003 | 56 | -5.1% |
| 2004 | 56 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 57 | +1.8% |
| 2006 | 55 | -3.5% |
| 2007 | 55 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 55 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 55 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 71 | +29.1% |
| 2011 | 71 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 73 | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 75 | +2.7% |
| 2014 | 75 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 75 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 74 | -1.3% |
| 2017 | 75 | +1.4% |
| 2018 | 79 | +5.3% |
| 2019 | 79 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 79 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 79 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 81 | +2.5% |
| 2023 | 81 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 80 | -1.2% |
| 2025 | 79 | -1.2% |
Tonga compared with similar countries
- Tonga's 79 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 61.5, 1.3× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Tonga's 79 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 73, 1.1× the median. (31 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Freedom Score in Tonga 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | +29.1% | 55 | 71 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 56 | 55 | 59 | 8 |
| 2010s | 74.7 | 71 | 79 | 10 |
| 2020s | 79.83 | 79 | 81 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Tonga
More social development data for Tonga
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 65 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 50 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 3 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0006 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 65 (2025)
- Sovereign state gleditsch ward, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 54.76 % change on previous year (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 Tonga?
- Freedom score in Tonga was 79 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom score recorded in Tonga?
- The highest recorded value was 81 in 2022.
- What is the lowest freedom score recorded in Tonga?
- The lowest recorded value was 55 in 2006.
- How does Tonga rank for freedom score?
- Tonga ranks 73rd out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom score rising or falling in Tonga?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Tonga 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.