Political Rights Score in Malta
Malta: Political Rights Score was 35 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Malta, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in Malta stood at 35. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 10.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Malta peaked at 40 in 2002 and was at its lowest, 35, in 2018.
Malta ranks 48th of 197 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Malta, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 40 | — |
| 2003 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 40 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 39 | -2.5% |
| 2006 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 39 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 36 | -7.7% |
| 2018 | 35 | -2.8% |
| 2019 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 35 | +0.0% |
Malta compared with similar countries
- Malta's 35 is below the median for high income countries, which is 37, 95% of the median. (66 countries reporting)
- Malta's 35 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 6.5, 5.4× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 39.38 | 39 | 40 | 8 |
| 2010s | 37.9 | 35 | 39 | 10 |
| 2020s | 35 | 35 | 35 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malta
More social development data for Malta
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,306 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 11 (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 11 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0143 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 Malta?
- Political rights score in Malta was 35 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Malta?
- The highest recorded value was 40 in 2002.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Malta?
- The lowest recorded value was 35 in 2018.
- How does Malta rank for political rights score?
- Malta ranks 48th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Malta?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malta 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.