Political Rights Score in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Political Rights Score was 4 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 4 for political rights score in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 55.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 14 in 2006 and was at its lowest, 3, in 2018.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 160th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 6 | — |
| 2003 | 8 | +33.3% |
| 2004 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 14 | +75.0% |
| 2007 | 13 | -7.1% |
| 2008 | 11 | -15.4% |
| 2009 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 9 | -18.2% |
| 2012 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 4 | -55.6% |
| 2017 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 2019 | 4 | +33.3% |
| 2020 | 5 | +25.0% |
| 2021 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 2022 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 4 | +0.0% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 4 is above the median for low income countries, which is 3, 1.3× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 4 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.5, 38% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.88 | 6 | 14 | 8 |
| 2010s | 7.1 | 3 | 11 | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.17 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More social development data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 503,732 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1.18 million (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 0.0104 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1.18 million (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0045 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Political rights score in Democratic Republic of Congo was 4 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 14 in 2006.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 3 in 2018.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for political rights score?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 160th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 55.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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.