Political Rights Score in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Political Rights Score was 8 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Ethiopia, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in Ethiopia stood at 8.
The figure is up 100.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Ethiopia peaked at 15 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 4, in 2015.
That places Ethiopia 143rd out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 12 | — |
| 2003 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 12 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 15 | +25.0% |
| 2006 | 14 | -6.7% |
| 2007 | 13 | -7.1% |
| 2008 | 13 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 13 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 8 | -38.5% |
| 2011 | 7 | -12.5% |
| 2012 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 4 | -42.9% |
| 2016 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 7 | +75.0% |
| 2019 | 10 | +42.9% |
| 2020 | 9 | -10.0% |
| 2021 | 12 | +33.3% |
| 2022 | 10 | -16.7% |
| 2023 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 8 | -20.0% |
| 2025 | 8 | +0.0% |
Ethiopia compared with similar countries
- Ethiopia's 8 is above the median for low income countries, which is 3, 2.7× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Ethiopia's 8 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.5, 76% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Political Rights Score in Ethiopia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | +75.0% | 4 | 7 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 13 | 12 | 15 | 8 |
| 2010s | 6.5 | 4 | 10 | 10 |
| 2020s | 9.5 | 8 | 12 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More social development data for Ethiopia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1.01 million (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 164,215 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0012 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 164,215 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0075 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 Ethiopia?
- Political rights score in Ethiopia was 8 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 15 in 2005.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4 in 2015.
- How does Ethiopia rank for political rights score?
- Ethiopia ranks 143rd out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 100.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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.