Data source: Freedom House
Freedom in the World is an annual global report on political rights and civil liberties, composed of numerical ratings and descriptive texts for each country and a select group of territories. The 2025 edition covers developments in 195 countries and 15 territories from 1972 to 2025.
The report's methodology is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. Freedom in the World is based on the premise that these standards apply to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development. Freedom in the World operates from the assumption that freedom for all people is best achieved in liberal democratic societies.
Freedom in the World assesses the real-world rights and freedoms enjoyed by individuals, rather than governments or government performance per se. Political rights and civil liberties can be affected by both state and non-state actors, including insurgents and other armed groups. To read more about the methodology used by Freedom House, please visit https://freedomhouse.org/reports/freedom-world/freedom-world-research-methodology. These subcategories, drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, represent the fundamental components of freedom, which include an individual's ability to:
Note: The 1982 edition of Freedom in the World covers the period Jan 1981 - Aug 1982 (=1981 in our dataset). The 1983-84 edition covers the period Aug 1982 - Nov 1983 (=1983 in our dataset). This leaves 1982 empty. For 1972, South Africa was in the original data rated as 'White' (fh_cl: 3, fh_pr: 2, fh_status: Free) and 'Black' (fh_cl: 6, fh_pr: 5, fh_status: Not Free). We treat South Africa 1972 as missing.
When using this dataset, please cite as:
(Freedom House, 2024)
Browse variables and select them for download.
fh_aor
Associational and Organizational Rights - The variable evaluates the freedom of assembly, demonstrations and open public discussion; the freedom for nongovernmental organizations; and the freedom for ...
fh_cl
Civil Liberties Rating - Civil liberties allow for the freedoms of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, and personal autonomy without interference from the stat ...
fh_ep
Electoral Process - The variable measures to what extent the national legislative representatives and the national chief authority are elected through free and fair elections. Countries are graded bet ...
fh_feb
Freedom of Expression and Belief - The variable measures the freedom and independence of the media and other cultural expressions; the freedom of religious groups to practice their faith and express t ...
fh_fog
Functioning of Government - The variable examines to what extent the freely elected head of government and a national legislative representative determine the policies of the government; if the govern ...
fh_pair
Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights - The variable evaluates the extent of state control over travel, choice of residence, employment or institutions of higher education; the right of citizens to ...
fh_ppp
Political Pluralism and Participation - This variable encompasses an examination of the right of the people to freely organize in political parties; the existence of an opposition with a realistic pos ...
fh_pr
Political Rights Rating - Political rights enable people to participate freely in the political process, including the right to vote freely for distinct alternatives in legitimate elections, compete f ...
fh_rol
Rule of Law - The variable measures the independence of the judiciary; the extent to which rule of law prevails in civil and criminal matters; the existence of direct civil control over the police; th ...
fh_status
1. Free 2. Partly Free 3. Not Free Until 2003, countries whose combined average ratings for Political Rights and Civil Liberties fell between 1.0 and 2.5 were designated 'Free'; between 3.0 a ...