Political Rights Score in Nepal
Nepal: Political Rights Score was 27 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Political Rights Score in Nepal, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in Nepal stood at 27.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.6% on the previous year and up 8.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Nepal peaked at 28 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 9, in 2005.
That places Nepal 94th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Political Rights Score in Nepal, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 21 | — |
| 2003 | 17 | -19.0% |
| 2004 | 16 | -5.9% |
| 2005 | 9 | -43.8% |
| 2006 | 17 | +88.9% |
| 2007 | 17 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 21 | +23.5% |
| 2009 | 21 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 20 | -4.8% |
| 2011 | 21 | +5.0% |
| 2012 | 20 | -4.8% |
| 2013 | 23 | +15.0% |
| 2014 | 24 | +4.3% |
| 2015 | 25 | +4.2% |
| 2016 | 24 | -4.0% |
| 2017 | 25 | +4.2% |
| 2018 | 25 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 25 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 25 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 25 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 26 | +4.0% |
| 2023 | 28 | +7.7% |
| 2024 | 28 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 27 | -3.6% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's 27 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 15, 1.8× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nepal's 27 is below the median for South Asia, which is 28, 96% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Political Rights Score in Nepal changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | +88.9% | 9 | 17 |
| 2005 | -43.8% | 16 | 9 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 17.38 | 9 | 21 | 8 |
| 2010s | 23.2 | 20 | 25 | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.5 | 25 | 28 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
- 94 Dominican Republic 27 compare
- 94 Ecuador 27 compare
- 94 Peru 27 compare
- 94 Solomon Islands 27 compare
More social development data for Nepal
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 19,613 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,019 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 3 (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 8,019 (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 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is political rights score in Nepal?
- Political rights score in Nepal was 27 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 28 in 2023.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 9 in 2005.
- How does Nepal rank for political rights score?
- Nepal ranks 94th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nepal 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.