Political Rights Score in Iran
Iran: Political Rights Score was 4 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Iran, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political rights score in Iran is 4, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of down 42.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Iran peaked at 10 in 2002 and was at its lowest, 4, in 2021.
Iran ranks 160th of 197 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Iran, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 10 | — |
| 2003 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 9 | -10.0% |
| 2006 | 10 | +11.1% |
| 2007 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 9 | -10.0% |
| 2009 | 7 | -22.2% |
| 2010 | 6 | -14.3% |
| 2011 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 7 | +16.7% |
| 2014 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 6 | -14.3% |
| 2021 | 4 | -33.3% |
| 2022 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 4 | +0.0% |
Iran compared with similar countries
- Iran's 4 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 26, 15% of the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Iran's 4 is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 6.5, 62% of the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.38 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| 2010s | 6.7 | 6 | 7 | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.33 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iran
- 160 Cambodia 4 compare
- 160 Democratic Republic of Congo 4 compare
- 160 Kyrgyzstan 4 compare
- 160 Russia 4 compare
- 160 Vietnam 4 compare
More social development data for Iran
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 770,514 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 157,912 (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 0.0017 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 157,912 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0083 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 Iran?
- Political rights score in Iran was 4 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Iran?
- The highest recorded value was 10 in 2002.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Iran?
- The lowest recorded value was 4 in 2021.
- How does Iran rank for political rights score?
- Iran ranks 160th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Iran?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iran 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.