Statizoid

Private Civil Liberties Index in United States

United States: Private Civil Liberties Index was 0.832 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.832
Change on year
down 6.3%
World rank
65th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.936
in 2008
All-time low
0.273
in 1838
Years of data
237
1789–2025

Private Civil Liberties Index in United States, 1789–2025

0.20.40.60.81178919072025

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

Analysis

In 2025, private civil liberties index in United States stood at 0.832.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 6.3% on the previous year and down 10.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, private civil liberties index in United States peaked at 0.936 in 2008 and was at its lowest, 0.273, in 1838.

United States ranks 65th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Private Civil Liberties Index in United States, year by year

Year Value Change
1789 0.408 —
1790 0.408 +0.0%
1791 0.408 +0.0%
1792 0.408 +0.0%
1793 0.408 +0.0%
1794 0.408 +0.0%
1795 0.408 +0.0%
1796 0.408 +0.0%
1797 0.408 +0.0%
1798 0.408 +0.0%
1799 0.408 +0.0%
1800 0.408 +0.0%
1801 0.408 +0.0%
1802 0.408 +0.0%
1803 0.408 +0.0%
1804 0.408 +0.0%
1805 0.408 +0.0%
1806 0.408 +0.0%
1807 0.408 +0.0%
1808 0.408 +0.0%
1809 0.408 +0.0%
1810 0.408 +0.0%
1811 0.408 +0.0%
1812 0.408 +0.0%
1813 0.408 +0.0%
1814 0.408 +0.0%
1815 0.408 +0.0%
1816 0.408 +0.0%
1817 0.408 +0.0%
1818 0.408 +0.0%
1819 0.408 +0.0%
1820 0.408 +0.0%
1821 0.408 +0.0%
1822 0.408 +0.0%
1823 0.408 +0.0%
1824 0.408 +0.0%
1825 0.408 +0.0%
1826 0.408 +0.0%
1827 0.408 +0.0%
1828 0.408 +0.0%
1829 0.408 +0.0%
1830 0.408 +0.0%
1831 0.408 +0.0%
1832 0.408 +0.0%
1833 0.408 +0.0%
1834 0.408 +0.0%
1835 0.408 +0.0%
1836 0.408 +0.0%
1837 0.408 +0.0%
1838 0.273 -33.1%
1839 0.273 +0.0%
1840 0.273 +0.0%
1841 0.273 +0.0%
1842 0.273 +0.0%
1843 0.273 +0.0%
1844 0.273 +0.0%
1845 0.273 +0.0%
1846 0.273 +0.0%
1847 0.273 +0.0%
1848 0.273 +0.0%
1849 0.374 +37.0%
1850 0.374 +0.0%
1851 0.374 +0.0%
1852 0.374 +0.0%
1853 0.374 +0.0%
1854 0.374 +0.0%
1855 0.374 +0.0%
1856 0.374 +0.0%
1857 0.374 +0.0%
1858 0.374 +0.0%
1859 0.374 +0.0%
1860 0.374 +0.0%
1861 0.48 +28.3%
1862 0.508 +5.8%
1863 0.508 +0.0%
1864 0.508 +0.0%
1865 0.508 +0.0%
1866 0.636 +25.2%
1867 0.636 +0.0%
1868 0.636 +0.0%
1869 0.636 +0.0%
1870 0.636 +0.0%
1871 0.636 +0.0%
1872 0.636 +0.0%
1873 0.636 +0.0%
1874 0.636 +0.0%
1875 0.636 +0.0%
1876 0.636 +0.0%
1877 0.636 +0.0%
1878 0.636 +0.0%
1879 0.636 +0.0%
1880 0.636 +0.0%
1881 0.636 +0.0%
1882 0.636 +0.0%
1883 0.636 +0.0%
1884 0.636 +0.0%
1885 0.636 +0.0%
1886 0.636 +0.0%
1887 0.636 +0.0%
1888 0.657 +3.3%
1889 0.657 +0.0%
1890 0.657 +0.0%
1891 0.657 +0.0%
1892 0.657 +0.0%
1893 0.657 +0.0%
1894 0.657 +0.0%
1895 0.657 +0.0%
1896 0.658 +0.2%
1897 0.658 +0.0%
1898 0.658 +0.0%
1899 0.658 +0.0%
1900 0.658 +0.0%
1901 0.658 +0.0%
1902 0.658 +0.0%
1903 0.658 +0.0%
1904 0.658 +0.0%
1905 0.658 +0.0%
1906 0.658 +0.0%
1907 0.658 +0.0%
1908 0.658 +0.0%
1909 0.658 +0.0%
1910 0.658 +0.0%
1911 0.658 +0.0%
1912 0.658 +0.0%
1913 0.658 +0.0%
1914 0.658 +0.0%
1915 0.658 +0.0%
1916 0.658 +0.0%
1917 0.639 -2.9%
1918 0.608 -4.9%
1919 0.608 +0.0%
1920 0.629 +3.5%
1921 0.629 +0.0%
1922 0.656 +4.3%
1923 0.656 +0.0%
1924 0.656 +0.0%
1925 0.656 +0.0%
1926 0.656 +0.0%
1927 0.656 +0.0%
1928 0.656 +0.0%
1929 0.656 +0.0%
1930 0.656 +0.0%
1931 0.656 +0.0%
1932 0.658 +0.3%
1933 0.658 +0.0%
1934 0.66 +0.3%
1935 0.666 +0.9%
1936 0.656 -1.5%
1937 0.656 +0.0%
1938 0.656 +0.0%
1939 0.654 -0.3%
1940 0.611 -6.6%
1941 0.594 -2.8%
1942 0.598 +0.7%
1943 0.595 -0.5%
1944 0.595 +0.0%
1945 0.617 +3.7%
1946 0.653 +5.8%
1947 0.676 +3.5%
1948 0.676 +0.0%
1949 0.704 +4.1%
1950 0.706 +0.3%
1951 0.706 +0.0%
1952 0.706 +0.0%
1953 0.706 +0.0%
1954 0.706 +0.0%
1955 0.706 +0.0%
1956 0.706 +0.0%
1957 0.714 +1.1%
1958 0.714 +0.0%
1959 0.714 +0.0%
1960 0.714 +0.0%
1961 0.714 +0.0%
1962 0.714 +0.0%
1963 0.716 +0.3%
1964 0.734 +2.5%
1965 0.739 +0.7%
1966 0.759 +2.7%
1967 0.759 +0.0%
1968 0.764 +0.7%
1969 0.813 +6.4%
1970 0.855 +5.2%
1971 0.869 +1.6%
1972 0.869 +0.0%
1973 0.869 +0.0%
1974 0.869 +0.0%
1975 0.886 +2.0%
1976 0.895 +1.0%
1977 0.901 +0.7%
1978 0.905 +0.4%
1979 0.912 +0.8%
1980 0.922 +1.1%
1981 0.922 +0.0%
1982 0.922 +0.0%
1983 0.92 -0.2%
1984 0.92 +0.0%
1985 0.92 +0.0%
1986 0.932 +1.3%
1987 0.932 +0.0%
1988 0.932 +0.0%
1989 0.932 +0.0%
1990 0.932 +0.0%
1991 0.932 +0.0%
1992 0.932 +0.0%
1993 0.932 +0.0%
1994 0.932 +0.0%
1995 0.932 +0.0%
1996 0.932 +0.0%
1997 0.932 +0.0%
1998 0.932 +0.0%
1999 0.932 +0.0%
2000 0.932 +0.0%
2001 0.934 +0.2%
2002 0.929 -0.5%
2003 0.929 +0.0%
2004 0.929 +0.0%
2005 0.929 +0.0%
2006 0.929 +0.0%
2007 0.929 +0.0%
2008 0.936 +0.8%
2009 0.936 +0.0%
2010 0.93 -0.6%
2011 0.926 -0.4%
2012 0.926 +0.0%
2013 0.934 +0.9%
2014 0.934 +0.0%
2015 0.934 +0.0%
2016 0.933 -0.1%
2017 0.926 -0.8%
2018 0.914 -1.3%
2019 0.912 -0.2%
2020 0.914 +0.2%
2021 0.907 -0.8%
2022 0.915 +0.9%
2023 0.901 -1.5%
2024 0.888 -1.4%
2025 0.832 -6.3%

United States compared with similar countries

  • United States's 0.832 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.894, 93% of the median. (55 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1780s 0.408 0.408 0.408 1
1790s 0.408 0.408 0.408 10
1800s 0.408 0.408 0.408 10
1810s 0.408 0.408 0.408 10
1820s 0.408 0.408 0.408 10
1830s 0.381 0.273 0.408 10
1840s 0.2831 0.273 0.374 10
1850s 0.374 0.374 0.374 10
1860s 0.543 0.374 0.636 10
1870s 0.636 0.636 0.636 10
1880s 0.6402 0.636 0.657 10
1890s 0.6574 0.657 0.658 10
1900s 0.658 0.658 0.658 10
1910s 0.6461 0.608 0.658 10
1920s 0.6506 0.629 0.656 10
1930s 0.6576 0.654 0.666 10
1940s 0.6319 0.594 0.704 10
1950s 0.7084 0.706 0.714 10
1960s 0.7426 0.714 0.813 10
1970s 0.883 0.855 0.912 10
1980s 0.9254 0.92 0.932 10
1990s 0.932 0.932 0.932 10
2000s 0.9312 0.929 0.936 10
2010s 0.9269 0.912 0.934 10
2020s 0.8928 0.832 0.915 6

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 62 Canada 0.836 compare
  2. 63 Colombia 0.833 compare
  3. 63 Peru 0.833 compare
  4. 65 Hungary 0.832 compare
  5. 65 Senegal 0.832 compare
  6. 68 Dominican Republic 0.829 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is private civil liberties index in United States?
Private civil liberties index in United States was 0.832 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest private civil liberties index recorded in United States?
The highest recorded value was 0.936 in 2008.
What is the lowest private civil liberties index recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 0.273 in 1838.
How does United States rank for private civil liberties index?
United States ranks 65th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is private civil liberties index rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is down 10.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United States data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Private Civil Liberties Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Private Civil Liberties Index in United States. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/private-civil-liberties-index/united-states/

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/private-civil-liberties-index/united-states/">Private Civil Liberties Index in United States</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Private 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, 30,494 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate the extent to which people are free from forced labor, have property rights, and enjoy freedom of movement and religion.