Political Rights Score in Burundi
Burundi: Political Rights Score was 2 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Political Rights Score in Burundi, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in Burundi stood at 2. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 50.0% on the previous year and down 60.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Burundi peaked at 25 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 2, in 2025.
That places Burundi 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 Burundi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 9 | — |
| 2003 | 12 | +33.3% |
| 2004 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 25 | +108.3% |
| 2006 | 22 | -12.0% |
| 2007 | 22 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 20 | -9.1% |
| 2009 | 22 | +10.0% |
| 2010 | 13 | -40.9% |
| 2011 | 13 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 12 | -7.7% |
| 2013 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 11 | -8.3% |
| 2015 | 5 | -54.5% |
| 2016 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 2018 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 2019 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 4 | +33.3% |
| 2021 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 2 | -50.0% |
Burundi compared with similar countries
- Burundi's 2 is below the median for low income countries, which is 3, 67% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Burundi's 2 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.5, 19% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Political Rights Score in Burundi 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +108.3% | 12 | 25 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 18 | 9 | 25 | 8 |
| 2010s | 8.1 | 3 | 13 | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.67 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Burundi
More social development data for Burundi
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 110,800 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 318,291 (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 0.0221 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 318,291 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0077 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 Burundi?
- Political rights score in Burundi was 2 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Burundi?
- The highest recorded value was 25 in 2005.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Burundi?
- The lowest recorded value was 2 in 2025.
- How does Burundi rank for political rights score?
- Burundi ranks 168th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Burundi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 60.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Burundi 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.