Statizoid

Political Civil Liberties Index in France

France: Political Civil Liberties Index was 0.953 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.953
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
9th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.965
in 1988
All-time low
0.116
in 1800
Years of data
237
1789–2025

Political Civil Liberties Index in France, 1789–2025

0.20.40.60.81178919072025

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for political civil liberties index in France is 0.953, measured in 2025.

That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and down 0.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, political civil liberties index in France peaked at 0.965 in 1988 and was at its lowest, 0.116, in 1800.

France ranks 9th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 237 years of available data.

Political Civil Liberties Index in France, year by year

Year Value Change
1789 0.702 —
1790 0.723 +3.0%
1791 0.528 -27.0%
1792 0.343 -35.0%
1793 0.343 +0.0%
1794 0.343 +0.0%
1795 0.435 +26.8%
1796 0.435 +0.0%
1797 0.435 +0.0%
1798 0.435 +0.0%
1799 0.471 +8.3%
1800 0.116 -75.4%
1801 0.116 +0.0%
1802 0.116 +0.0%
1803 0.116 +0.0%
1804 0.116 +0.0%
1805 0.116 +0.0%
1806 0.116 +0.0%
1807 0.116 +0.0%
1808 0.116 +0.0%
1809 0.116 +0.0%
1810 0.116 +0.0%
1811 0.116 +0.0%
1812 0.116 +0.0%
1813 0.116 +0.0%
1814 0.116 +0.0%
1815 0.475 +309.5%
1816 0.475 +0.0%
1817 0.475 +0.0%
1818 0.475 +0.0%
1819 0.475 +0.0%
1820 0.475 +0.0%
1821 0.385 -18.9%
1822 0.306 -20.5%
1823 0.306 +0.0%
1824 0.306 +0.0%
1825 0.306 +0.0%
1826 0.306 +0.0%
1827 0.306 +0.0%
1828 0.306 +0.0%
1829 0.306 +0.0%
1830 0.47 +53.6%
1831 0.47 +0.0%
1832 0.47 +0.0%
1833 0.47 +0.0%
1834 0.47 +0.0%
1835 0.47 +0.0%
1836 0.47 +0.0%
1837 0.47 +0.0%
1838 0.47 +0.0%
1839 0.47 +0.0%
1840 0.47 +0.0%
1841 0.47 +0.0%
1842 0.47 +0.0%
1843 0.47 +0.0%
1844 0.47 +0.0%
1845 0.47 +0.0%
1846 0.47 +0.0%
1847 0.47 +0.0%
1848 0.845 +79.8%
1849 0.845 +0.0%
1850 0.845 +0.0%
1851 0.318 -62.4%
1852 0.24 -24.5%
1853 0.24 +0.0%
1854 0.24 +0.0%
1855 0.24 +0.0%
1856 0.24 +0.0%
1857 0.24 +0.0%
1858 0.24 +0.0%
1859 0.24 +0.0%
1860 0.24 +0.0%
1861 0.318 +32.5%
1862 0.36 +13.2%
1863 0.36 +0.0%
1864 0.36 +0.0%
1865 0.36 +0.0%
1866 0.36 +0.0%
1867 0.36 +0.0%
1868 0.36 +0.0%
1869 0.36 +0.0%
1870 0.537 +49.2%
1871 0.57 +6.1%
1872 0.667 +17.0%
1873 0.667 +0.0%
1874 0.707 +6.0%
1875 0.707 +0.0%
1876 0.707 +0.0%
1877 0.707 +0.0%
1878 0.774 +9.5%
1879 0.808 +4.4%
1880 0.83 +2.7%
1881 0.83 +0.0%
1882 0.83 +0.0%
1883 0.83 +0.0%
1884 0.83 +0.0%
1885 0.83 +0.0%
1886 0.83 +0.0%
1887 0.83 +0.0%
1888 0.83 +0.0%
1889 0.83 +0.0%
1890 0.83 +0.0%
1891 0.83 +0.0%
1892 0.83 +0.0%
1893 0.806 -2.9%
1894 0.806 +0.0%
1895 0.806 +0.0%
1896 0.806 +0.0%
1897 0.806 +0.0%
1898 0.838 +4.0%
1899 0.838 +0.0%
1900 0.878 +4.8%
1901 0.895 +1.9%
1902 0.895 +0.0%
1903 0.895 +0.0%
1904 0.895 +0.0%
1905 0.895 +0.0%
1906 0.895 +0.0%
1907 0.895 +0.0%
1908 0.895 +0.0%
1909 0.895 +0.0%
1910 0.895 +0.0%
1911 0.895 +0.0%
1912 0.895 +0.0%
1913 0.895 +0.0%
1914 0.793 -11.4%
1915 0.793 +0.0%
1916 0.793 +0.0%
1917 0.793 +0.0%
1918 0.793 +0.0%
1919 0.827 +4.3%
1920 0.875 +5.8%
1921 0.875 +0.0%
1922 0.875 +0.0%
1923 0.875 +0.0%
1924 0.875 +0.0%
1925 0.864 -1.3%
1926 0.864 +0.0%
1927 0.864 +0.0%
1928 0.864 +0.0%
1929 0.864 +0.0%
1930 0.864 +0.0%
1931 0.864 +0.0%
1932 0.864 +0.0%
1933 0.864 +0.0%
1934 0.869 +0.6%
1935 0.859 -1.2%
1936 0.85 -1.0%
1937 0.85 +0.0%
1938 0.85 +0.0%
1939 0.826 -2.8%
1940 0.201 -75.7%
1941 0.184 -8.5%
1942 0.184 +0.0%
1943 0.184 +0.0%
1944 0.193 +4.9%
1945 0.622 +222.3%
1946 0.857 +37.8%
1947 0.882 +2.9%
1948 0.899 +1.9%
1949 0.899 +0.0%
1950 0.908 +1.0%
1951 0.908 +0.0%
1952 0.908 +0.0%
1953 0.908 +0.0%
1954 0.876 -3.5%
1955 0.892 +1.8%
1956 0.892 +0.0%
1957 0.9 +0.9%
1958 0.888 -1.3%
1959 0.878 -1.1%
1960 0.879 +0.1%
1961 0.879 +0.0%
1962 0.879 +0.0%
1963 0.902 +2.6%
1964 0.902 +0.0%
1965 0.902 +0.0%
1966 0.902 +0.0%
1967 0.915 +1.4%
1968 0.915 +0.0%
1969 0.941 +2.8%
1970 0.946 +0.5%
1971 0.946 +0.0%
1972 0.946 +0.0%
1973 0.946 +0.0%
1974 0.946 +0.0%
1975 0.946 +0.0%
1976 0.946 +0.0%
1977 0.946 +0.0%
1978 0.946 +0.0%
1979 0.946 +0.0%
1980 0.946 +0.0%
1981 0.951 +0.5%
1982 0.955 +0.4%
1983 0.955 +0.0%
1984 0.955 +0.0%
1985 0.955 +0.0%
1986 0.955 +0.0%
1987 0.955 +0.0%
1988 0.965 +1.0%
1989 0.965 +0.0%
1990 0.965 +0.0%
1991 0.965 +0.0%
1992 0.965 +0.0%
1993 0.965 +0.0%
1994 0.965 +0.0%
1995 0.965 +0.0%
1996 0.965 +0.0%
1997 0.965 +0.0%
1998 0.965 +0.0%
1999 0.965 +0.0%
2000 0.965 +0.0%
2001 0.965 +0.0%
2002 0.965 +0.0%
2003 0.965 +0.0%
2004 0.965 +0.0%
2005 0.965 +0.0%
2006 0.965 +0.0%
2007 0.965 +0.0%
2008 0.965 +0.0%
2009 0.965 +0.0%
2010 0.965 +0.0%
2011 0.965 +0.0%
2012 0.963 -0.2%
2013 0.963 +0.0%
2014 0.962 -0.1%
2015 0.958 -0.4%
2016 0.958 +0.0%
2017 0.963 +0.5%
2018 0.953 -1.0%
2019 0.946 -0.7%
2020 0.942 -0.4%
2021 0.945 +0.3%
2022 0.957 +1.3%
2023 0.954 -0.3%
2024 0.95 -0.4%
2025 0.953 +0.3%

France compared with similar countries

  • France's 0.953 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.893, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • France's 0.953 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.8515, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1780s 0.702 0.702 0.702 1
1790s 0.4491 0.343 0.723 10
1800s 0.116 0.116 0.116 10
1810s 0.2955 0.116 0.475 10
1820s 0.3308 0.306 0.475 10
1830s 0.47 0.47 0.47 10
1840s 0.545 0.47 0.845 10
1850s 0.3083 0.24 0.845 10
1860s 0.3438 0.24 0.36 10
1870s 0.6851 0.537 0.808 10
1880s 0.83 0.83 0.83 10
1890s 0.8196 0.806 0.838 10
1900s 0.8933 0.878 0.895 10
1910s 0.8372 0.793 0.895 10
1920s 0.8695 0.864 0.875 10
1930s 0.856 0.826 0.869 10
1940s 0.5105 0.184 0.899 10
1950s 0.8958 0.876 0.908 10
1960s 0.9016 0.879 0.941 10
1970s 0.946 0.946 0.946 10
1980s 0.9557 0.946 0.965 10
1990s 0.965 0.965 0.965 10
2000s 0.965 0.965 0.965 10
2010s 0.9596 0.946 0.965 10
2020s 0.9502 0.942 0.957 6

Countries ranked near France

  1. 6 Sweden 0.96 compare
  2. 7 Luxembourg 0.956 compare
  3. 8 Norway 0.955 compare
  4. 10 Uruguay 0.947 compare
  5. 11 Chile 0.943 compare
  6. 11 Latvia 0.943 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for France

All data for France →

Frequently asked questions

What is political civil liberties index in France?
Political civil liberties index in France was 0.953 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest political civil liberties index recorded in France?
The highest recorded value was 0.965 in 1988.
What is the lowest political civil liberties index recorded in France?
The lowest recorded value was 0.116 in 1800.
How does France rank for political civil liberties index?
France ranks 9th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is political civil liberties index rising or falling in France?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this France 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.

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Political Civil Liberties Index in France. 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/france/

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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.