Political Rights Score in China
China: Political Rights Score was -2 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Political Rights Score in China, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in China stood at -2. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 300.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in China peaked at 3 in 2002 and was at its lowest, -2, in 2020.
That places China 192nd 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 China, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 3 | — |
| 2003 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 2 | -33.3% |
| 2005 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1 | -50.0% |
| 2010 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 2011 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1 | -50.0% |
| 2016 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2018 | -1 | — |
| 2019 | -1 | -0.0% |
| 2020 | -2 | +100.0% |
| 2021 | -2 | -0.0% |
| 2022 | -2 | -0.0% |
| 2023 | -2 | -0.0% |
| 2024 | -2 | -0.0% |
| 2025 | -2 | -0.0% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's -2 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 26. (58 countries reporting)
- China's -2 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 28. (31 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.12 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 2010s | 1 | -1 | 2 | 10 |
| 2020s | -2 | -2 | -2 | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
More social development data for China
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 230 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 153,962 (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 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 153,962 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 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 China?
- Political rights score in China was -2 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 3 in 2002.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was -2 in 2020.
- How does China rank for political rights score?
- China ranks 192nd out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 300.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this China 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.