Political Rights Score in Kuwait
Kuwait: Political Rights Score was 7 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Kuwait, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political rights score in Kuwait is 7, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 46.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Kuwait peaked at 19 in 2006 and was at its lowest, 7, in 2024.
That places Kuwait 145th 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 Kuwait, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 18 | — |
| 2003 | 18 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 18 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 18 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 19 | +5.6% |
| 2007 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 17 | -10.5% |
| 2013 | 16 | -5.9% |
| 2014 | 14 | -12.5% |
| 2015 | 13 | -7.1% |
| 2016 | 13 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 13 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 13 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 13 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 14 | +7.7% |
| 2021 | 14 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 14 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 14 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 7 | -50.0% |
| 2025 | 7 | +0.0% |
Kuwait compared with similar countries
- Kuwait's 7 is below the median for high income countries, which is 37, 19% of the median. (66 countries reporting)
- Kuwait's 7 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 6.5, 1.1× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 18.5 | 18 | 19 | 8 |
| 2010s | 15 | 13 | 19 | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.67 | 7 | 14 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Kuwait
More social development data for Kuwait
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 386 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 3,369 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0007 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 3,369 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 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 Kuwait?
- Political rights score in Kuwait was 7 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Kuwait?
- The highest recorded value was 19 in 2006.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Kuwait?
- The lowest recorded value was 7 in 2024.
- How does Kuwait rank for political rights score?
- Kuwait ranks 145th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Kuwait?
- Over the last ten years it is down 46.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Kuwait 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.