Statizoid

Political Civil Liberties Index in Ireland

Ireland: Political Civil Liberties Index was 0.967 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.967
Change on year
down 0.3%
World rank
3rd
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.975
in 2018
All-time low
0.517
in 1819
Years of data
237
1789–2025

Political Civil Liberties Index in Ireland, 1789–2025

00.20.40.60.81178919072025

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

Analysis

In 2025, political civil liberties index in Ireland stood at 0.967.

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

Over the whole period, political civil liberties index in Ireland peaked at 0.975 in 2018 and was at its lowest, 0.517, in 1819.

Ireland ranks 3rd 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 Ireland, year by year

Year Value Change
1789 0.69 —
1790 0.69 +0.0%
1791 0.69 +0.0%
1792 0.662 -4.1%
1793 0.662 +0.0%
1794 0.662 +0.0%
1795 0.625 -5.6%
1796 0.625 +0.0%
1797 0.625 +0.0%
1798 0.625 +0.0%
1799 0.625 +0.0%
1800 0.625 +0.0%
1801 0.625 +0.0%
1802 0.625 +0.0%
1803 0.625 +0.0%
1804 0.625 +0.0%
1805 0.625 +0.0%
1806 0.625 +0.0%
1807 0.625 +0.0%
1808 0.625 +0.0%
1809 0.625 +0.0%
1810 0.625 +0.0%
1811 0.625 +0.0%
1812 0.625 +0.0%
1813 0.625 +0.0%
1814 0.625 +0.0%
1815 0.625 +0.0%
1816 0.59 -5.6%
1817 0.59 +0.0%
1818 0.59 +0.0%
1819 0.517 -12.4%
1820 0.556 +7.5%
1821 0.556 +0.0%
1822 0.556 +0.0%
1823 0.556 +0.0%
1824 0.556 +0.0%
1825 0.688 +23.7%
1826 0.726 +5.5%
1827 0.726 +0.0%
1828 0.726 +0.0%
1829 0.697 -4.0%
1830 0.697 +0.0%
1831 0.697 +0.0%
1832 0.697 +0.0%
1833 0.697 +0.0%
1834 0.697 +0.0%
1835 0.697 +0.0%
1836 0.697 +0.0%
1837 0.697 +0.0%
1838 0.697 +0.0%
1839 0.728 +4.4%
1840 0.789 +8.4%
1841 0.789 +0.0%
1842 0.789 +0.0%
1843 0.789 +0.0%
1844 0.789 +0.0%
1845 0.789 +0.0%
1846 0.789 +0.0%
1847 0.789 +0.0%
1848 0.789 +0.0%
1849 0.789 +0.0%
1850 0.803 +1.8%
1851 0.822 +2.4%
1852 0.822 +0.0%
1853 0.822 +0.0%
1854 0.822 +0.0%
1855 0.822 +0.0%
1856 0.822 +0.0%
1857 0.822 +0.0%
1858 0.822 +0.0%
1859 0.822 +0.0%
1860 0.822 +0.0%
1861 0.822 +0.0%
1862 0.822 +0.0%
1863 0.822 +0.0%
1864 0.822 +0.0%
1865 0.822 +0.0%
1866 0.822 +0.0%
1867 0.822 +0.0%
1868 0.822 +0.0%
1869 0.822 +0.0%
1870 0.831 +1.1%
1871 0.831 +0.0%
1872 0.831 +0.0%
1873 0.853 +2.6%
1874 0.853 +0.0%
1875 0.853 +0.0%
1876 0.853 +0.0%
1877 0.853 +0.0%
1878 0.853 +0.0%
1879 0.853 +0.0%
1880 0.853 +0.0%
1881 0.853 +0.0%
1882 0.853 +0.0%
1883 0.853 +0.0%
1884 0.853 +0.0%
1885 0.853 +0.0%
1886 0.853 +0.0%
1887 0.853 +0.0%
1888 0.853 +0.0%
1889 0.853 +0.0%
1890 0.853 +0.0%
1891 0.853 +0.0%
1892 0.853 +0.0%
1893 0.853 +0.0%
1894 0.853 +0.0%
1895 0.853 +0.0%
1896 0.853 +0.0%
1897 0.853 +0.0%
1898 0.865 +1.4%
1899 0.865 +0.0%
1900 0.876 +1.3%
1901 0.872 -0.5%
1902 0.872 +0.0%
1903 0.872 +0.0%
1904 0.872 +0.0%
1905 0.872 +0.0%
1906 0.875 +0.3%
1907 0.875 +0.0%
1908 0.875 +0.0%
1909 0.875 +0.0%
1910 0.875 +0.0%
1911 0.875 +0.0%
1912 0.875 +0.0%
1913 0.875 +0.0%
1914 0.848 -3.1%
1915 0.848 +0.0%
1916 0.848 +0.0%
1917 0.848 +0.0%
1918 0.848 +0.0%
1919 0.674 -20.5%
1920 0.691 +2.5%
1921 0.691 +0.0%
1922 0.721 +4.3%
1923 0.769 +6.7%
1924 0.857 +11.4%
1925 0.857 +0.0%
1926 0.857 +0.0%
1927 0.857 +0.0%
1928 0.857 +0.0%
1929 0.857 +0.0%
1930 0.857 +0.0%
1931 0.857 +0.0%
1932 0.857 +0.0%
1933 0.857 +0.0%
1934 0.857 +0.0%
1935 0.857 +0.0%
1936 0.857 +0.0%
1937 0.857 +0.0%
1938 0.857 +0.0%
1939 0.848 -1.1%
1940 0.848 +0.0%
1941 0.848 +0.0%
1942 0.848 +0.0%
1943 0.848 +0.0%
1944 0.848 +0.0%
1945 0.858 +1.2%
1946 0.866 +0.9%
1947 0.866 +0.0%
1948 0.866 +0.0%
1949 0.876 +1.2%
1950 0.876 +0.0%
1951 0.878 +0.2%
1952 0.878 +0.0%
1953 0.878 +0.0%
1954 0.88 +0.2%
1955 0.88 +0.0%
1956 0.88 +0.0%
1957 0.88 +0.0%
1958 0.88 +0.0%
1959 0.88 +0.0%
1960 0.887 +0.8%
1961 0.892 +0.6%
1962 0.892 +0.0%
1963 0.894 +0.2%
1964 0.894 +0.0%
1965 0.894 +0.0%
1966 0.894 +0.0%
1967 0.894 +0.0%
1968 0.894 +0.0%
1969 0.894 +0.0%
1970 0.909 +1.7%
1971 0.909 +0.0%
1972 0.909 +0.0%
1973 0.909 +0.0%
1974 0.909 +0.0%
1975 0.909 +0.0%
1976 0.909 +0.0%
1977 0.909 +0.0%
1978 0.909 +0.0%
1979 0.909 +0.0%
1980 0.905 -0.4%
1981 0.905 +0.0%
1982 0.915 +1.1%
1983 0.915 +0.0%
1984 0.915 +0.0%
1985 0.921 +0.7%
1986 0.921 +0.0%
1987 0.921 +0.0%
1988 0.921 +0.0%
1989 0.921 +0.0%
1990 0.941 +2.2%
1991 0.961 +2.1%
1992 0.961 +0.0%
1993 0.961 +0.0%
1994 0.961 +0.0%
1995 0.961 +0.0%
1996 0.966 +0.5%
1997 0.966 +0.0%
1998 0.966 +0.0%
1999 0.966 +0.0%
2000 0.972 +0.6%
2001 0.972 +0.0%
2002 0.972 +0.0%
2003 0.972 +0.0%
2004 0.972 +0.0%
2005 0.972 +0.0%
2006 0.972 +0.0%
2007 0.972 +0.0%
2008 0.972 +0.0%
2009 0.972 +0.0%
2010 0.972 +0.0%
2011 0.972 +0.0%
2012 0.972 +0.0%
2013 0.972 +0.0%
2014 0.972 +0.0%
2015 0.972 +0.0%
2016 0.972 +0.0%
2017 0.974 +0.2%
2018 0.975 +0.1%
2019 0.972 -0.3%
2020 0.974 +0.2%
2021 0.974 +0.0%
2022 0.97 -0.4%
2023 0.97 +0.0%
2024 0.97 +0.0%
2025 0.967 -0.3%

Ireland compared with similar countries

  • Ireland's 0.967 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.893, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • Ireland's 0.967 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 0.69 0.69 0.69 1
1790s 0.6491 0.625 0.69 10
1800s 0.625 0.625 0.625 10
1810s 0.6037 0.517 0.625 10
1820s 0.6343 0.556 0.726 10
1830s 0.7001 0.697 0.728 10
1840s 0.789 0.789 0.789 10
1850s 0.8201 0.803 0.822 10
1860s 0.822 0.822 0.822 10
1870s 0.8464 0.831 0.853 10
1880s 0.853 0.853 0.853 10
1890s 0.8554 0.853 0.865 10
1900s 0.8736 0.872 0.876 10
1910s 0.8414 0.674 0.875 10
1920s 0.8014 0.691 0.857 10
1930s 0.8561 0.848 0.857 10
1940s 0.8572 0.848 0.876 10
1950s 0.879 0.876 0.88 10
1960s 0.8929 0.887 0.894 10
1970s 0.909 0.909 0.909 10
1980s 0.916 0.905 0.921 10
1990s 0.961 0.941 0.966 10
2000s 0.972 0.972 0.972 10
2010s 0.9725 0.972 0.975 10
2020s 0.9708 0.967 0.974 6

Countries ranked near Ireland

  1. 1 Denmark 0.975 compare
  2. 2 Switzerland 0.969 compare
  3. 4 Estonia 0.966 compare
  4. 5 Belgium 0.963 compare
  5. 6 Sweden 0.96 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Ireland

All data for Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is political civil liberties index in Ireland?
Political civil liberties index in Ireland was 0.967 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest political civil liberties index recorded in Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 0.975 in 2018.
What is the lowest political civil liberties index recorded in Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 0.517 in 1819.
How does Ireland rank for political civil liberties index?
Ireland ranks 3rd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is political civil liberties index rising or falling in Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ireland 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 Ireland. 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/ireland/

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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.