Political Rights Score in India
India: Political Rights Score was 31 in 2025. ▬ Flat
Political Rights Score in India, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in India stood at 31. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
The figure is down 11.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in India peaked at 35 in 2014 and was at its lowest, 31, in 2002.
That places India 76th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
Political Rights Score in India, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 31 | — |
| 2003 | 33 | +6.5% |
| 2004 | 34 | +3.0% |
| 2005 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 35 | +2.9% |
| 2015 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 34 | -2.9% |
| 2020 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 33 | -2.9% |
| 2022 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 31 | -6.1% |
| 2025 | 31 | +0.0% |
India compared with similar countries
- India's 31 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 15, 2.1× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- India's 31 is above the median for South Asia, which is 28, 1.1× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 33.5 | 31 | 34 | 8 |
| 2010s | 34.5 | 34 | 35 | 10 |
| 2020s | 32.5 | 31 | 34 | 6 |
Countries ranked near India
More social development data for India
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 238,643 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 42,610 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (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 42,610 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 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 India?
- Political rights score in India was 31 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in India?
- The highest recorded value was 35 in 2014.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in India?
- The lowest recorded value was 31 in 2002.
- How does India rank for political rights score?
- India ranks 76th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in India?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this India 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.