Political Rights Score in Nigeria
Nigeria: Political Rights Score was 20 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Political Rights Score in Nigeria, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in Nigeria stood at 20.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 13.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Nigeria peaked at 25 in 2016 and was at its lowest, 16, in 2009.
Nigeria ranks 115th of 197 countries on this measure, 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 Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 19 | — |
| 2003 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 19 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 20 | +5.3% |
| 2006 | 21 | +5.0% |
| 2007 | 18 | -14.3% |
| 2008 | 17 | -5.6% |
| 2009 | 16 | -5.9% |
| 2010 | 19 | +18.8% |
| 2011 | 21 | +10.5% |
| 2012 | 20 | -4.8% |
| 2013 | 20 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 18 | -10.0% |
| 2015 | 23 | +27.8% |
| 2016 | 25 | +8.7% |
| 2017 | 25 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 25 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 22 | -12.0% |
| 2020 | 21 | -4.5% |
| 2021 | 20 | -4.8% |
| 2022 | 20 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 20 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 20 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 20 | +0.0% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 20 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 15, 1.3× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 20 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.5, 1.9× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 18.62 | 16 | 21 | 8 |
| 2010s | 21.8 | 18 | 25 | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.17 | 20 | 21 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More social development data for Nigeria
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 123,848 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (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 0.002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0005 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 Nigeria?
- Political rights score in Nigeria was 20 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 25 in 2016.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 16 in 2009.
- How does Nigeria rank for political rights score?
- Nigeria ranks 115th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria 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.