Political Rights Score in Tonga
Tonga: Political Rights Score was 29 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Political Rights Score in Tonga, 2002–2025
Source: Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for political rights score in Tonga is 29, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 3.3% on the previous year and down 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political rights score in Tonga peaked at 31 in 2013 and was at its lowest, 15, in 2003.
That places Tonga 86th 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 Tonga, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 17 | — |
| 2003 | 15 | -11.8% |
| 2004 | 15 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 15 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 15 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 15 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 15 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 15 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 29 | +93.3% |
| 2011 | 29 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 29 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 31 | +6.9% |
| 2014 | 31 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 31 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 30 | -3.2% |
| 2017 | 30 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 30 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 30 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 30 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 30 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 31 | +3.3% |
| 2023 | 31 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 30 | -3.2% |
| 2025 | 29 | -3.3% |
Tonga compared with similar countries
- Tonga's 29 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 26, 1.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Tonga's 29 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 28, 1.0× the median. (31 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 15.25 | 15 | 17 | 8 |
| 2010s | 30 | 29 | 31 | 10 |
| 2020s | 30.17 | 29 | 31 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Tonga
More social development data for Tonga
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 65 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 50 % 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 0.0006 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 65 (2025)
- Sovereign state gleditsch ward, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 54.76 % change on previous year (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 Tonga?
- Political rights score in Tonga was 29 in 2025, according to Freedom House (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political rights score recorded in Tonga?
- The highest recorded value was 31 in 2013.
- What is the lowest political rights score recorded in Tonga?
- The lowest recorded value was 15 in 2003.
- How does Tonga rank for political rights score?
- Tonga ranks 86th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political rights score rising or falling in Tonga?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Tonga 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.