Political Rights Rating in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Political Rights Rating was 4 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Political Rights Rating in Papua New Guinea, 1975–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political rights rating in Papua New Guinea is 4, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights rating in Papua New Guinea peaked at 4 in 2008 and was at its lowest, 2, in 1976.
Papua New Guinea ranks 79th of 199 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
Political Rights Rating in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 3 | — |
| 1976 | 2 | -33.3% |
| 1977 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 3 | +50.0% |
| 2004 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 4 | +33.3% |
| 2009 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 2014 | 4 | +33.3% |
| 2015 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 2017 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 4 | +33.3% |
| 2019 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 4 | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.2 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 1980s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 1990s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.9 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.7 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2020s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 79 Armenia 4 compare
- 79 Benin 4 compare
- 79 Gambia 4 compare
- 79 Georgia 4 compare
- 79 Guatemala 4 compare
- 79 Honduras 4 compare
- 79 Kenya 4 compare
- 79 Malaysia 4 compare
- 79 Maldives 4 compare
- 79 Nigeria 4 compare
- 79 Serbia 4 compare
- 79 Sierra Leone 4 compare
- 79 Singapore 4 compare
- 79 Ukraine 4 compare
- 79 Zambia 4 compare
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)
- 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)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of -0.0647 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is political rights rating in Papua New Guinea?
- Political rights rating in Papua New Guinea was 4 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights rating recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 4 in 2008.
- What is the lowest political rights rating recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 2 in 1976.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for political rights rating?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 79th out of 199 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights rating rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Political Rights Rating. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 50 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Identifies the extent of free and fair elections, political pluralism and participation, and a functioning government. Lower ratings indicate more rights.