Human Rights Index in Nigeria
Nigeria: Human Rights Index was 0.674 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.674
Change on year
down 0.7%
World rank
101st
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.679
in 2024
All-time low
0.415
in 1919
Years of data
112
1914–2025
Human Rights Index in Nigeria, 1914–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, human rights index in Nigeria stood at 0.674.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.7% on the previous year and up 5.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, human rights index in Nigeria peaked at 0.679 in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.415, in 1919.
Nigeria ranks 101st of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 112 years of available data.
Human Rights Index in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 0.418 | — |
| 1915 | 0.418 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.418 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.418 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.418 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.415 | -0.7% |
| 1920 | 0.415 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.415 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.438 | +5.5% |
| 1923 | 0.441 | +0.7% |
| 1924 | 0.445 | +0.9% |
| 1925 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.445 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.448 | +0.7% |
| 1935 | 0.448 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.448 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.448 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.448 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.448 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.452 | +0.9% |
| 1941 | 0.452 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.452 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.452 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.452 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0.452 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 0.458 | +1.3% |
| 1947 | 0.462 | +0.9% |
| 1948 | 0.462 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.462 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.462 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 0.462 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.457 | -1.1% |
| 1953 | 0.457 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 0.458 | +0.2% |
| 1955 | 0.469 | +2.4% |
| 1956 | 0.469 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.469 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.471 | +0.4% |
| 1959 | 0.468 | -0.6% |
| 1960 | 0.549 | +17.3% |
| 1961 | 0.557 | +1.5% |
| 1962 | 0.557 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.557 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.551 | -1.1% |
| 1965 | 0.551 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.545 | -1.1% |
| 1967 | 0.472 | -13.4% |
| 1968 | 0.472 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.472 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.481 | +1.9% |
| 1971 | 0.481 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.503 | +4.6% |
| 1973 | 0.499 | -0.8% |
| 1974 | 0.499 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.499 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.501 | +0.4% |
| 1977 | 0.509 | +1.6% |
| 1978 | 0.52 | +2.2% |
| 1979 | 0.604 | +16.2% |
| 1980 | 0.603 | -0.2% |
| 1981 | 0.635 | +5.3% |
| 1982 | 0.635 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.617 | -2.8% |
| 1984 | 0.456 | -26.1% |
| 1985 | 0.472 | +3.5% |
| 1986 | 0.482 | +2.1% |
| 1987 | 0.482 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.482 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.49 | +1.7% |
| 1990 | 0.493 | +0.6% |
| 1991 | 0.5 | +1.4% |
| 1992 | 0.499 | -0.2% |
| 1993 | 0.492 | -1.4% |
| 1994 | 0.48 | -2.4% |
| 1995 | 0.453 | -5.6% |
| 1996 | 0.45 | -0.7% |
| 1997 | 0.459 | +2.0% |
| 1998 | 0.511 | +11.3% |
| 1999 | 0.636 | +24.5% |
| 2000 | 0.636 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.636 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.636 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.636 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.636 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.636 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.638 | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 0.639 | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 0.641 | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 0.641 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.642 | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 0.643 | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 0.642 | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 0.647 | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 0.65 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 0.637 | -2.0% |
| 2016 | 0.65 | +2.0% |
| 2017 | 0.644 | -0.9% |
| 2018 | 0.646 | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 0.631 | -2.3% |
| 2020 | 0.645 | +2.2% |
| 2021 | 0.649 | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 0.646 | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 0.666 | +3.1% |
| 2024 | 0.679 | +2.0% |
| 2025 | 0.674 | -0.7% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 0.674 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.6365, 1.1× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 0.674 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.6165, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Human Rights Index in Nigeria 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | -26.1% | 0.617 | 0.456 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 0.4175 | 0.415 | 0.418 | 6 |
| 1920s | 0.4379 | 0.415 | 0.445 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.4468 | 0.445 | 0.448 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.4556 | 0.452 | 0.462 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.4642 | 0.457 | 0.471 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.5283 | 0.472 | 0.557 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.5096 | 0.481 | 0.604 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.5354 | 0.456 | 0.635 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4973 | 0.45 | 0.636 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.6375 | 0.636 | 0.641 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.6432 | 0.631 | 0.65 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6598 | 0.645 | 0.679 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More social development data for Nigeria
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 123,848 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0005 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 human rights index in Nigeria?
- Human rights index in Nigeria was 0.674 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest human rights index recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.679 in 2024.
- What is the lowest human rights index recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.415 in 1919.
- How does Nigeria rank for human rights index?
- Nigeria ranks 101st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is human rights index rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Human Rights Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 112 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent to which people are free from government torture, political killings, and forced labor, they have property rights, and enjoy the freedoms of movement, religion, expression, and association.