Political Rights Score in Japan
Japan: Political Rights Score was 40 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Political Rights Score in Japan, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political rights score in Japan is 40, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Japan peaked at 40 in 2015 and was at its lowest, 36, in 2002.
Japan ranks 1st of 197 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Japan, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 36 | — |
| 2003 | 36 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 37 | +2.8% |
| 2005 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 37 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 39 | +5.4% |
| 2015 | 40 | +2.6% |
| 2016 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 40 | +0.0% |
Japan compared with similar countries
- Japan's 40 is above the median for high income countries, which is 37, 1.1× the median. (66 countries reporting)
- Japan's 40 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 28, 1.4× the median. (31 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 36.75 | 36 | 37 | 8 |
| 2010s | 38.7 | 37 | 40 | 10 |
| 2020s | 40 | 40 | 40 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More social development data for Japan
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 42,450 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 56 (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 56 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0003 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 Japan?
- Political rights score in Japan was 40 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 40 in 2015.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 36 in 2002.
- How does Japan rank for political rights score?
- Japan ranks 1st out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Japan 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.