Political Civil Liberties Index in Nigeria
Nigeria: Political Civil Liberties Index was 0.863 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.863
Change on year
down 0.7%
World rank
55th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.876
in 2014
All-time low
0.437
in 1919
Years of data
112
1914–2025
Political Civil Liberties Index in Nigeria, 1914–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, political civil liberties index in Nigeria stood at 0.863.
The figure is down 0.7% on the previous year and down 0.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, political civil liberties index in Nigeria peaked at 0.876 in 2014 and was at its lowest, 0.437, in 1919.
Nigeria ranks 55th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 112 years of available data.
Political Civil Liberties Index in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 0.447 | — |
| 1915 | 0.447 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.447 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.447 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.447 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.437 | -2.2% |
| 1920 | 0.437 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.437 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.508 | +16.2% |
| 1923 | 0.526 | +3.5% |
| 1924 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.526 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.532 | +1.1% |
| 1935 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.532 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0.538 | +1.1% |
| 1946 | 0.553 | +2.8% |
| 1947 | 0.566 | +2.4% |
| 1948 | 0.566 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.566 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.566 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 0.566 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.55 | -2.8% |
| 1953 | 0.55 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 0.553 | +0.5% |
| 1955 | 0.559 | +1.1% |
| 1956 | 0.559 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.559 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.567 | +1.4% |
| 1959 | 0.567 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.67 | +18.2% |
| 1961 | 0.686 | +2.4% |
| 1962 | 0.686 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.686 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.686 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.686 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.666 | -2.9% |
| 1967 | 0.543 | -18.5% |
| 1968 | 0.543 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.543 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.543 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.543 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.553 | +1.8% |
| 1973 | 0.54 | -2.4% |
| 1974 | 0.54 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.552 | +2.2% |
| 1976 | 0.55 | -0.4% |
| 1977 | 0.577 | +4.9% |
| 1978 | 0.621 | +7.6% |
| 1979 | 0.745 | +20.0% |
| 1980 | 0.75 | +0.7% |
| 1981 | 0.75 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.75 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.694 | -7.5% |
| 1984 | 0.461 | -33.6% |
| 1985 | 0.488 | +5.9% |
| 1986 | 0.507 | +3.9% |
| 1987 | 0.507 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.507 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.533 | +5.1% |
| 1990 | 0.537 | +0.8% |
| 1991 | 0.546 | +1.7% |
| 1992 | 0.547 | +0.2% |
| 1993 | 0.526 | -3.8% |
| 1994 | 0.509 | -3.2% |
| 1995 | 0.469 | -7.9% |
| 1996 | 0.469 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.5 | +6.6% |
| 1998 | 0.564 | +12.8% |
| 1999 | 0.843 | +49.5% |
| 2000 | 0.846 | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 0.846 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.846 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.846 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.846 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.846 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.849 | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 0.854 | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 0.863 | +1.1% |
| 2009 | 0.86 | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 0.869 | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 0.865 | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 0.866 | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 0.875 | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 0.876 | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 0.866 | -1.1% |
| 2016 | 0.873 | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 0.869 | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 0.866 | -0.3% |
| 2019 | 0.856 | -1.2% |
| 2020 | 0.858 | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 0.819 | -4.5% |
| 2022 | 0.84 | +2.6% |
| 2023 | 0.849 | +1.1% |
| 2024 | 0.869 | +2.4% |
| 2025 | 0.863 | -0.7% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 0.863 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.5695, 1.5× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 0.863 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.5665, 1.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Political Civil Liberties Index in Nigeria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | +49.5% | 0.564 | 0.843 |
| 1984 | -33.6% | 0.694 | 0.461 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 0.4453 | 0.437 | 0.447 | 6 |
| 1920s | 0.5064 | 0.437 | 0.526 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.5296 | 0.526 | 0.532 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.5449 | 0.532 | 0.566 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.5596 | 0.55 | 0.567 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.6395 | 0.543 | 0.686 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.5764 | 0.54 | 0.745 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.5947 | 0.461 | 0.75 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.551 | 0.469 | 0.843 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8502 | 0.846 | 0.863 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8681 | 0.856 | 0.876 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8497 | 0.819 | 0.869 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
- 52 Sierra Leone 0.868 compare
- 53 East Timor 0.866 compare
- 54 United States 0.865 compare
- 55 Nepal 0.863 compare
- 57 Kenya 0.86 compare
- 58 United Kingdom 0.858 compare
More reference data data for Nigeria
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.77 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 19.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 5.94 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 5.8 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 81.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 121.16 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 14.27 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is political civil liberties index in Nigeria?
- Political civil liberties index in Nigeria was 0.863 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest political civil liberties index recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.876 in 2014.
- What is the lowest political civil liberties index recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.437 in 1919.
- How does Nigeria rank for political civil liberties index?
- Nigeria ranks 55th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is political civil liberties index rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria 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 — 112 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent to which people enjoy the freedoms of expression and association.