Political Rights Score in Kenya
Kenya: Political Rights Score was 21 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Kenya, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 21 for political rights score in 2025.
The figure is down 4.5% on the previous year and down 4.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Kenya peaked at 26 in 2003 and was at its lowest, 18, in 2002.
That places Kenya 113th 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 Kenya, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 18 | — |
| 2003 | 26 | +44.4% |
| 2004 | 26 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 26 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 25 | -3.8% |
| 2007 | 20 | -20.0% |
| 2008 | 19 | -5.0% |
| 2009 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 21 | +10.5% |
| 2011 | 21 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 21 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 22 | +4.8% |
| 2014 | 22 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 22 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 22 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 19 | -13.6% |
| 2018 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 22 | +15.8% |
| 2023 | 22 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 22 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 21 | -4.5% |
Kenya compared with similar countries
- Kenya's 21 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 15, 1.4× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Kenya's 21 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.5, 2.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 22.38 | 18 | 26 | 8 |
| 2010s | 20.8 | 19 | 22 | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.83 | 19 | 22 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More social development data for Kenya
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 617,125 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 13,325 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (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 13,325 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0107 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 Kenya?
- Political rights score in Kenya was 21 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 26 in 2003.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 18 in 2002.
- How does Kenya rank for political rights score?
- Kenya ranks 113th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Kenya 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.