The International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is the premier global measure of how nations protect property rights – physical and intellectual – within the legal and political systems that support them. The 2025 edition has just been released, in which the Property Rights Alliance assesses 126 countries representing 93.2% of the global population and 97.5% of global GDP.

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Now in its 19th year, the IPRI was developed by the Property Rights Alliance in collaboration with Competere and 132 partner think tanks in 72 countries. This index measures how well nations protect physical and intellectual property, alongside the legal and political systems that uphold them. The report includes six case studies addressing global challenges and best practices in property rights, from innovation policy in the EU to property access reforms in Africa and Latin America.

<< Download the Executive Summary>>

Key Findings

The global average IPRI score in 2025 stands at 5.13, marking a slight decline since 2024 which had a global average IPRI score of 5.18, and continuing a six-year downward trend.

These results highlight a persistent divide between high-income and developing countries in protecting property rights and promoting investment. In the report linked to IPR, the global Gender Equality (GE) scored 7.91, equating to 2024’s score, while the gender-adjusted IPRI is 8.71% lower than the base Index. This persistent gap reflects continued disparities in property ownership and access for women worldwide.

The 2025 edition shows a mixed performance, and reveals that while legal institutions are stabilizing in some regions, barriers to ownership and financing remain a global challenge:

• Legal and Political Environment (LP): Had a slight improvement of 0.99% from 2024’s with the average LP being 4.98, now stands with an average score of 5.03.
• Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): Since 2024 there has been a modest decline of 0.65% with an average of 5.32.
• Physical Property Rights (PPR): Like IPR, PPR has had a sharp decline of 3.28% since 2024 which stood at 5.21, is now at an average of 5.04.

Europe and North America continue to lead globally, while regions such as Africa and Latin America face ongoing institutional obstacles. By income level, high-income countries scored 6.71, compared to 3.17 for low-income nations, underlining the close relationship between property rights and economic growth.

The top performers achieving the highest property right protections score in 2025 have been Luxembourg (8.2), Austria (8.0), Czechia (8.0), Japan (7.9), and Denmark (7.8).

The lowest performers this year were Democratic Republic of Congo (2.6), Ethiopia (2.6), Haiti (2.1), Venezuela (2.0), and lastly Yemen (1.7).

<<Check out the Key Findings of 2024 Here>>

Authors

The Property Rights Alliance is an association that promotes property rights across the world. International Property Rights Index is a yearly comparative study that aims to quantify the strength of property rights – both physical and intellectual – and to rank countries accordingly. Competere is a member of the PRA and is proud to exclusively present this year’s findings in Italy.