Political Rights Score in Bhutan
Bhutan: Political Rights Score was 33 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Political Rights Score in Bhutan, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political rights score in Bhutan is 33, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.1% on the previous year and up 13.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Bhutan peaked at 33 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 6, in 2003.
Bhutan ranks 67th of 197 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Bhutan, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 7 | — |
| 2003 | 6 | -14.3% |
| 2004 | 8 | +33.3% |
| 2005 | 9 | +12.5% |
| 2006 | 10 | +11.1% |
| 2007 | 11 | +10.0% |
| 2008 | 19 | +72.7% |
| 2009 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 22 | +15.8% |
| 2013 | 28 | +27.3% |
| 2014 | 29 | +3.6% |
| 2015 | 29 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 28 | -3.4% |
| 2017 | 28 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 29 | +3.6% |
| 2019 | 29 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 30 | +3.4% |
| 2021 | 29 | -3.3% |
| 2022 | 29 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 30 | +3.4% |
| 2024 | 32 | +6.7% |
| 2025 | 33 | +3.1% |
Bhutan compared with similar countries
- Bhutan's 33 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 15, 2.2× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Bhutan's 33 is above the median for South Asia, which is 28, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Political Rights Score in Bhutan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | +72.7% | 11 | 19 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11.12 | 6 | 19 | 8 |
| 2010s | 26 | 19 | 29 | 10 |
| 2020s | 30.5 | 29 | 33 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Bhutan
- 67 East Timor 33 compare
- 67 Liechtenstein 33 compare
- 67 South Korea 33 compare
More social development data for Bhutan
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 7,257 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0091 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 7,257 (2025)
- Sovereign state gleditsch ward, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of -2.37 % change on previous year (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 Bhutan?
- Political rights score in Bhutan was 33 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Bhutan?
- The highest recorded value was 33 in 2025.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Bhutan?
- The lowest recorded value was 6 in 2003.
- How does Bhutan rank for political rights score?
- Bhutan ranks 67th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Bhutan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Bhutan 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.
Download this data
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.