Political Rights Score in Bahrain
Bahrain: Political Rights Score was 2 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Political Rights Score in Bahrain, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Bahrain recorded 2 for political rights score in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 50.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Bahrain peaked at 16 in 2006 and was at its lowest, 1, in 2019.
That places Bahrain 168th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Political Rights Score in Bahrain, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 13 | — |
| 2003 | 12 | -7.7% |
| 2004 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 14 | +16.7% |
| 2006 | 16 | +14.3% |
| 2007 | 15 | -6.2% |
| 2008 | 13 | -13.3% |
| 2009 | 11 | -15.4% |
| 2010 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 8 | -27.3% |
| 2012 | 6 | -25.0% |
| 2013 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 5 | -16.7% |
| 2015 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 2016 | 2 | -50.0% |
| 2017 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1 | -50.0% |
| 2020 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 2021 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 2 | +0.0% |
Bahrain compared with similar countries
- Bahrain's 2 is below the median for high income countries, which is 37, 5% of the median. (66 countries reporting)
- Bahrain's 2 is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 6.5, 31% of the median. (22 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Political Rights Score in Bahrain 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +100.0% | 1 | 2 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 13.25 | 11 | 16 | 8 |
| 2010s | 4.7 | 1 | 11 | 10 |
| 2020s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Bahrain
More social development data for Bahrain
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 240 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 267 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 267 (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 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is political rights score in Bahrain?
- Political rights score in Bahrain was 2 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Bahrain?
- The highest recorded value was 16 in 2006.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Bahrain?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 in 2019.
- How does Bahrain rank for political rights score?
- Bahrain ranks 168th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Bahrain?
- Over the last ten years it is down 50.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Bahrain data come from?
- The figures come from Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Political Rights Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Identifies the fine-grained extent of free and fair elections, political pluralism and participation, and a functioning government. Higher scores indicate more rights.