Political Rights Score in Iceland
Iceland: Political Rights Score was 38 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Iceland, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 38 for political rights score in 2025.
The figure is down 5.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Iceland peaked at 40 in 2002 and was at its lowest, 37, in 2017.
That places Iceland 19th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 40 | — |
| 2003 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 39 | -2.5% |
| 2015 | 40 | +2.6% |
| 2016 | 38 | -5.0% |
| 2017 | 37 | -2.6% |
| 2018 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 38 | +2.7% |
| 2025 | 38 | +0.0% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 38 is above the median for high income countries, which is 37, 1.0× the median. (66 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 38 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 35, 1.1× the median. (52 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 40 | 40 | 40 | 8 |
| 2010s | 38.8 | 37 | 40 | 10 |
| 2020s | 37.33 | 37 | 38 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
- 19 Andorra 38 compare
- 19 Austria 38 compare
- 19 Bahamas 38 compare
- 19 Belgium 38 compare
- 19 Cape Verde 38 compare
- 19 Chile 38 compare
- 19 Costa Rica 38 compare
- 19 Cyprus 38 compare
- 19 France 38 compare
- 19 Lithuania 38 compare
- 19 Luxembourg 38 compare
- 19 Marshall Islands 38 compare
- 19 Saint Lucia 38 compare
- 19 Taiwan 38 compare
More social development data for Iceland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,459 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (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 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0216 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 Iceland?
- Political rights score in Iceland was 38 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 40 in 2002.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 37 in 2017.
- How does Iceland rank for political rights score?
- Iceland ranks 19th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iceland 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.