Statizoid

Political Civil Liberties Index in Bhutan

Bhutan: Political Civil Liberties Index was 0.658 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
0.658
Change on year
down 7.5%
World rank
98th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.719
in 2012
All-time low
0.129
in 1907
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Political Civil Liberties Index in Bhutan, 1900–2025

0.20.40.60.8190019622025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Bhutan recorded 0.658 for political civil liberties index in 2025.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 7.5% on the previous year and down 4.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, political civil liberties index in Bhutan peaked at 0.719 in 2012 and was at its lowest, 0.129, in 1907.

Bhutan ranks 98th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Political Civil Liberties Index in Bhutan, year by year

Year Value Change
1900 0.134 —
1901 0.134 +0.0%
1902 0.143 +6.7%
1903 0.143 +0.0%
1904 0.143 +0.0%
1905 0.143 +0.0%
1906 0.143 +0.0%
1907 0.129 -9.8%
1908 0.129 +0.0%
1909 0.129 +0.0%
1910 0.129 +0.0%
1911 0.129 +0.0%
1912 0.129 +0.0%
1913 0.129 +0.0%
1914 0.129 +0.0%
1915 0.129 +0.0%
1916 0.129 +0.0%
1917 0.129 +0.0%
1918 0.129 +0.0%
1919 0.129 +0.0%
1920 0.129 +0.0%
1921 0.129 +0.0%
1922 0.129 +0.0%
1923 0.129 +0.0%
1924 0.129 +0.0%
1925 0.129 +0.0%
1926 0.129 +0.0%
1927 0.129 +0.0%
1928 0.129 +0.0%
1929 0.129 +0.0%
1930 0.129 +0.0%
1931 0.129 +0.0%
1932 0.129 +0.0%
1933 0.129 +0.0%
1934 0.129 +0.0%
1935 0.129 +0.0%
1936 0.129 +0.0%
1937 0.129 +0.0%
1938 0.129 +0.0%
1939 0.129 +0.0%
1940 0.129 +0.0%
1941 0.129 +0.0%
1942 0.129 +0.0%
1943 0.16 +24.0%
1944 0.129 -19.4%
1945 0.157 +21.7%
1946 0.157 +0.0%
1947 0.157 +0.0%
1948 0.157 +0.0%
1949 0.157 +0.0%
1950 0.172 +9.6%
1951 0.172 +0.0%
1952 0.195 +13.4%
1953 0.194 -0.5%
1954 0.197 +1.5%
1955 0.213 +8.1%
1956 0.213 +0.0%
1957 0.213 +0.0%
1958 0.219 +2.8%
1959 0.219 +0.0%
1960 0.249 +13.7%
1961 0.249 +0.0%
1962 0.249 +0.0%
1963 0.249 +0.0%
1964 0.249 +0.0%
1965 0.249 +0.0%
1966 0.249 +0.0%
1967 0.249 +0.0%
1968 0.249 +0.0%
1969 0.248 -0.4%
1970 0.248 +0.0%
1971 0.248 +0.0%
1972 0.264 +6.5%
1973 0.264 +0.0%
1974 0.264 +0.0%
1975 0.264 +0.0%
1976 0.276 +4.5%
1977 0.274 -0.7%
1978 0.274 +0.0%
1979 0.274 +0.0%
1980 0.283 +3.3%
1981 0.283 +0.0%
1982 0.283 +0.0%
1983 0.283 +0.0%
1984 0.283 +0.0%
1985 0.283 +0.0%
1986 0.279 -1.4%
1987 0.278 -0.4%
1988 0.278 +0.0%
1989 0.293 +5.4%
1990 0.293 +0.0%
1991 0.293 +0.0%
1992 0.308 +5.1%
1993 0.313 +1.6%
1994 0.307 -1.9%
1995 0.307 +0.0%
1996 0.311 +1.3%
1997 0.311 +0.0%
1998 0.325 +4.5%
1999 0.331 +1.8%
2000 0.368 +11.2%
2001 0.372 +1.1%
2002 0.385 +3.5%
2003 0.401 +4.2%
2004 0.401 +0.0%
2005 0.401 +0.0%
2006 0.412 +2.7%
2007 0.524 +27.2%
2008 0.668 +27.5%
2009 0.679 +1.6%
2010 0.714 +5.2%
2011 0.714 +0.0%
2012 0.719 +0.7%
2013 0.688 -4.3%
2014 0.689 +0.1%
2015 0.689 +0.0%
2016 0.672 -2.5%
2017 0.682 +1.5%
2018 0.692 +1.5%
2019 0.704 +1.7%
2020 0.709 +0.7%
2021 0.679 -4.2%
2022 0.676 -0.4%
2023 0.686 +1.5%
2024 0.711 +3.6%
2025 0.658 -7.5%

Bhutan compared with similar countries

  • Bhutan's 0.658 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.5695, 1.2× the median. (46 countries reporting)
  • Bhutan's 0.658 is below the median for South Asia, which is 0.691, 95% of the median. (6 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 0.137 0.129 0.143 10
1910s 0.129 0.129 0.129 10
1920s 0.129 0.129 0.129 10
1930s 0.129 0.129 0.129 10
1940s 0.1461 0.129 0.16 10
1950s 0.2007 0.172 0.219 10
1960s 0.2489 0.248 0.249 10
1970s 0.265 0.248 0.276 10
1980s 0.2826 0.278 0.293 10
1990s 0.3099 0.293 0.331 10
2000s 0.4611 0.368 0.679 10
2010s 0.6963 0.672 0.719 10
2020s 0.6865 0.658 0.711 6

Countries ranked near Bhutan

  1. 95 Cote d'Ivoire 0.701 compare
  2. 96 Ecuador 0.694 compare
  3. 97 Malaysia 0.691 compare
  4. 99 Mexico 0.642 compare
  5. 100 Philippines 0.641 compare
  6. 101 Bangladesh 0.636 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Bhutan

All data for Bhutan →

Frequently asked questions

What is political civil liberties index in Bhutan?
Political civil liberties index in Bhutan was 0.658 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest political civil liberties index recorded in Bhutan?
The highest recorded value was 0.719 in 2012.
What is the lowest political civil liberties index recorded in Bhutan?
The lowest recorded value was 0.129 in 1907.
How does Bhutan rank for political civil liberties index?
Bhutan ranks 98th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is political civil liberties index rising or falling in Bhutan?
Over the last ten years it is down 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Bhutan data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Political Civil Liberties Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Political Civil Liberties Index in Bhutan. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 29 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-civil-liberties-index/bhutan/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-civil-liberties-index/bhutan/">Political Civil Liberties Index in Bhutan</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Political Civil Liberties Index
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 30,211 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate of the extent to which people enjoy the freedoms of expression and association.