Key features of human rights in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Key features of human rights was 0.805 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.805
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
73rd
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.831
in 2020
All-time low
0.313
in 1915
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Key features of human rights in Papua New Guinea, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for key features of human rights in Papua New Guinea is 0.805, measured in 2025.
The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and down 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, key features of human rights in Papua New Guinea peaked at 0.831 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.313, in 1915.
Papua New Guinea ranks 73rd of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Key features of human rights in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.317 | — |
| 1901 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.317 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.313 | -1.3% |
| 1916 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.313 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0.337 | +7.7% |
| 1946 | 0.513 | +52.2% |
| 1947 | 0.513 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0.513 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.513 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.519 | +1.2% |
| 1951 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.519 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.562 | +8.3% |
| 1961 | 0.562 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.562 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.562 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.566 | +0.7% |
| 1965 | 0.588 | +3.9% |
| 1966 | 0.588 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 0.588 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 0.588 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.588 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.6 | +2.0% |
| 1971 | 0.6 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.6 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.611 | +1.8% |
| 1974 | 0.611 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.823 | +34.7% |
| 1976 | 0.823 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.823 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.823 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.823 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0.818 | -0.6% |
| 1981 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.818 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.821 | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.821 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.812 | -1.1% |
| 2011 | 0.808 | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 0.805 | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 0.806 | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 0.806 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.807 | +0.1% |
| 2016 | 0.806 | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 0.796 | -1.2% |
| 2018 | 0.808 | +1.5% |
| 2019 | 0.81 | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 0.831 | +2.6% |
| 2021 | 0.811 | -2.4% |
| 2022 | 0.813 | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 0.809 | -0.5% |
| 2024 | 0.804 | -0.6% |
| 2025 | 0.805 | +0.1% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 0.805 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.6365, 1.3× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 0.805 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.728, 1.1× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.317 | 0.317 | 0.317 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.315 | 0.313 | 0.317 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.313 | 0.313 | 0.313 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.313 | 0.313 | 0.313 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.3954 | 0.313 | 0.513 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.519 | 0.519 | 0.519 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.5754 | 0.562 | 0.588 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.7137 | 0.6 | 0.823 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8183 | 0.818 | 0.821 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.821 | 0.821 | 0.821 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.821 | 0.821 | 0.821 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8064 | 0.796 | 0.812 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8122 | 0.804 | 0.831 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More social development data for Papua New Guinea
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 7,727 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 644 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (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 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 644 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0007 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 key features of human rights in Papua New Guinea?
- Key features of human rights in Papua New Guinea was 0.805 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest key features of human rights recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.831 in 2020.
- What is the lowest key features of human rights recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.313 in 1915.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for key features of human rights?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 73rd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is key features of human rights rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Key features of human rights. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 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.