Human Rights Day 2025: Top 10 countries with the lowest Human Rights Index scores in the World
Human Rights Day 2025 is celebrated annually on December 10th, marking the UN adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with the theme "Our Everyday Essentials." Let's have a look at the top 10 countries with the lowest Human Rights Index score.
10. China (0.17)
With a Human Rights Index score of 0.17, China stands at the 10th position globally in terms of human rights. Its low score reflects tight censorship, surveillance, punishment of activists and lawyers, and serious abuses against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang, alongside curtailed freedoms in Hong Kong, as per the data released by Statista in 2023.
9. Saudi Arabia (0.17)
Despite limited social reforms, Saudi Arabia remains heavily criticised for criminalising dissent, restricting women’s autonomy, and using harsh punishments, keeping its rights score very low. With this status, Saudi Arabia comes in the top 10 nations with the lowest Human Rights Index score.
8. Laos (0.15)
Laos’s one‑party rule, tight controls on expression and assembly, and reports of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances underpin its poor Human Rights Index score. Laos stands at the 8th spot globally in the index score.
7. Syria (0.13)
Syria’s protracted civil war, chemical‑weapons allegations, mass displacement and systematic torture documented by rights groups result in one of the lowest global human‑rights ratings.
6. Nicaragua (0.13)
Under President Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua faces accusations of jailing opponents, closing NGOs and independent media, and stripping citizenship from critics, driving its very low score. With this score, Nicaragua stands in the sixth spot in terms of the Human Rights Index.
5. Myanmar (0.11)
Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar has seen widespread killings, mass arrests and airstrikes against opposition areas; persecution of Rohingya and other minorities keeps its Human Rights Index score among the world’s worst.
4. Turkmenistan (0.11)
Turkmenistan’s authoritarian system, personality cult, media monopoly, and tight control over travel and religion yield an extremely low rights score, with little space for civil society or opposition.
3. Eritrea (0.06)
Eritrea is criticised for indefinite national service, forced labour, imprisonment of dissidents and journalists, and lack of elections since independence, producing one of the harshest rights environments globally.
2. Afghanistan (0.05)
Afghanistan’s score plummets due to Taliban rule, which sharply curtails women’s education, employment and mobility, suppresses media, and targets minorities, while ongoing conflict and economic collapse deepen humanitarian abuses.
1. North Korea (0.02)
North Korea records the lowest Human Rights Index score in the world, reflecting totalitarian rule, pervasive surveillance, political prison camps, and severe restrictions on movement, speech, religion and information, based on the data released by Statista in 2023.
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