Human rights index vdem in New Zealand
New Zealand: Human rights index vdem was 0.948 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.948
Change on year
down 0.4%
World rank
8th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.966
in 1985
All-time low
0.901
in 1853
Years of data
173
1853–2025
Human rights index vdem in New Zealand, 1853–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, human rights index vdem in New Zealand stood at 0.948.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 1.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, human rights index vdem in New Zealand peaked at 0.966 in 1985 and was at its lowest, 0.901, in 1853.
New Zealand ranks 8th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 173 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1850s | 0.901 | 0.901 | 0.901 | 7 |
| 1860s | 0.9132 | 0.901 | 0.915 | 10 |
| 1870s | 0.915 | 0.915 | 0.915 | 10 |
| 1880s | 0.9246 | 0.915 | 0.931 | 10 |
| 1890s | 0.9323 | 0.926 | 0.933 | 10 |
| 1900s | 0.9406 | 0.937 | 0.941 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.9276 | 0.918 | 0.941 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.9418 | 0.941 | 0.942 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.939 | 0.927 | 0.944 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.9281 | 0.922 | 0.938 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.9383 | 0.925 | 0.941 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.9505 | 0.947 | 0.952 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.9567 | 0.953 | 0.959 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.9623 | 0.956 | 0.966 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.961 | 0.961 | 0.961 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.961 | 0.961 | 0.961 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9597 | 0.958 | 0.961 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9517 | 0.945 | 0.958 | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More social development data for New Zealand
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,148 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 58 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh 1 (2025)
- Democracy lexical 1 (2025)
- Human rights index vs electoral democracy index 0.948 (2025)
- Liberal democracy index 0.787 (2025)
- Electoral democracy index 0.849 (2025)
- Freedom of association index 0.885 (2025)
- Freedom of expression index 0.927 (2025)
- Participatory democracy index 0.581 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is human rights index vdem in New Zealand?
- Human rights index vdem in New Zealand was 0.948 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest human rights index vdem recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 0.966 in 1985.
- What is the lowest human rights index vdem recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.901 in 1853.
- How does New Zealand rank for human rights index vdem?
- New Zealand ranks 8th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is human rights index vdem rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Human rights index vdem. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 173 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).