Political Rights Score in Rwanda
Rwanda: Political Rights Score was 7 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in Rwanda, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political rights score in Rwanda is 7, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 12.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Rwanda peaked at 11 in 2004 and was at its lowest, 4, in 2002.
That places Rwanda 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 Rwanda, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 4 | — |
| 2003 | 10 | +150.0% |
| 2004 | 11 | +10.0% |
| 2005 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 10 | -9.1% |
| 2007 | 11 | +10.0% |
| 2008 | 11 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 10 | -9.1% |
| 2010 | 8 | -20.0% |
| 2011 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 9 | +12.5% |
| 2014 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 8 | -11.1% |
| 2016 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 9 | +12.5% |
| 2019 | 8 | -11.1% |
| 2020 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 8 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 7 | -12.5% |
| 2025 | 7 | +0.0% |
Rwanda compared with similar countries
- Rwanda's 7 is above the median for low income countries, which is 3, 2.3× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Rwanda's 7 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 10.5, 67% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.75 | 4 | 11 | 8 |
| 2010s | 8.3 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.67 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
More social development data for Rwanda
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 115,794 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 244,415 (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 0.0168 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 244,415 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0079 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 Rwanda?
- Political rights score in Rwanda was 7 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 11 in 2004.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 4 in 2002.
- How does Rwanda rank for political rights score?
- Rwanda ranks 145th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Rwanda 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.