Political Rights Score in South Africa
South Africa: Political Rights Score was 34 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Political Rights Score in South Africa, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political rights score in South Africa stood at 34.
That represents a change of up 3.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in South Africa peaked at 36 in 2002 and was at its lowest, 32, in 2017.
South Africa ranks 60th of 197 countries on this measure, 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 South Africa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 36 | — |
| 2003 | 36 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 36 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 36 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 35 | -2.8% |
| 2007 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 35 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 34 | -2.9% |
| 2012 | 34 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 33 | -2.9% |
| 2014 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 32 | -3.0% |
| 2018 | 33 | +3.1% |
| 2019 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 33 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 34 | +3.0% |
| 2025 | 34 | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 35.5 | 35 | 36 | 8 |
| 2010s | 33.3 | 32 | 35 | 10 |
| 2020s | 33.33 | 33 | 34 | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More social development data for South Africa
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 55,177 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1,319 (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 1,319 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0009 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 South Africa?
- Political rights score in South Africa was 34 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 36 in 2002.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 32 in 2017.
- How does South Africa rank for political rights score?
- South Africa ranks 60th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa 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.