Property Rights Alliance
The International Property Rights Index (IPRI) is the flagship publication of Property Rights Alliance. The IPRI scores the underlying institutions of a strong property rights regime: the legal and political environment, physical property rights, and intellectual property rights. It is the world’s only index entirely dedicated to the measurement of intellectual and physical property rights. Covering 126 countries, the 2025 IPRI reports on the property rights systems affecting 98 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 93 percent of the world’s population.
A tool for policymakers, business communities, and civic activists, the IPRI highlights the essential role property rights play in creating a prosperous economy and just society. In addition, the 2025 Index examines the robust relationship between property rights and other economic and social indicators of well-being, including gender equality, innovation, competition, prosperity, research and development, human development, open data, and measures of internet connectedness.
This year, 133 international organizations from 73 countries partnered with the PRA in Washington, D.C., along with its Hernando De Soto Fellow, Prof. Sary Levy-Carciente, to produce the 19th edition of the IPRI.
A Letter From
Hernando de Soto
With deepening instability in global markets, strong property rights are as important as ever. The 2025 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) serves as a tool to understand this importance and to explain the global state of property rights. Thanks to the work of Dr. Sary Levy-Carciente, the Hernando de Soto Fellow for 2025, and Lorenzo Montanari, the Executive Director of the Property Rights Alliance, we are proud to publish the 2025 International Property Rights Index (IPRI).
Evaluating property rights in 126 countries, representing 92.3% of the global population and 97.5% of global GDP, the IPRI holistically analyzes important trends in property rights protections across the world. The global average IPRI score in 2025 stood at 5.13, with a maximum score of 8.3 and a minimum of 1.7. The score demonstrates a continued decline of global property rights standards, falling by 0.05 (0.97%) since the 2024 global average of 5.18, and 1.54% since 2023.
The largest contributor to the decline in the global score was the Physical Property Rights component (PPR). The inclusion of a new data series in the “access to financing” component is the leading cause of a 3.28% decline in the PPR indicator. The global average was further lowered by continued decline in the Intellectual Property Rights component (IPR), which experienced a 0.65% decline from its 2024 score. Counter to this trend, the Legal and Political Environment component (LP) experienced modest improvement, demonstrating a 0.99% increase.
The report also shows disparities in property rights protections across income groups have continued to widen. High-income countries had the highest IPRI score of 6.71, up from 6.59 in 2024. Meanwhile, upper-middle income countries scored 4.66, lower-middle income 3.89, and lower income 3.17, all of which were a decline from their 2024 scores. Lower-income countries saw the largest decline, falling 0.23 (5%), marking a considerable deterioration of property rights standards in the developing world.
These disparities are further seen at the regional level. Despite a global decline in the average IPRI score, Europe, North America, and Oceania all saw improvements in their scores since 2024. North America and Western Europe led IPRI scores, averaging 7.71 and 7.39 respectively. The five largest individual improvements in IPRI score all hailed from Europe, with Croatia experiencing a +1.07 improvement (20.51%), Bulgaria +1.05 (20.5%), Greece +0.83 (16.19%), and Italy +0.96 (16.06%).
Declining scores across Asia and Africa drove overall declines in the global average. The Middle East and North Africa saw the third-lowest score of 4.63 (-0.37 or -7.4%), Latin America and the Caribbean scored 4.40 (-0.03 or -0.07%), while Africa had the lowest average of 3.78 (-0.27 or -6.67%).
The report also analyzes inequalities in property rights between genders. The average Gender Equality (GE) score for 2025 was 7.91, a result equal to last year's score. Meanwhile, the IPRI-GE score, adjusted for the Gender Equality component, measured a global average of 4.68, 8.71% lower than the base global IPRI score and a slight deterioration of 0.55% since last year's score of 4.71, and a more significant decline since 2021’s score of 4.89. This indicates continued difficulties in addressing gender imbalances in property rights.
Strong property rights were found to be an important component of economic growth and development, with the IPRI being highly correlated with various economic and innovation indices. The IPRI demonstrated a strong correlation with the AI Preparedness Index (0.93), the Global Knowledge Index (0.92), and the Global Social Progress Index (0.90). These correlations show robust property rights are heavily linked to innovation and economic development.
In addition to quantitative analysis, the 2025 IPRI report features case studies from around the world, offering more-detailed qualitative explorations of key property rights issues. These issues include an analysis of the EU’s regulatory environment, South Africa’s Expropriation Act, reform to Australia’s land title registration system, environmental sustainability in the Galapagos Islands, Guatemalan eviction protocols, and recent challenges to Costa Rica’s property rights protections.
The 2025 IPRI demonstrates ongoing challenges to property rights protections globally, highlighting areas for improvement. Addressing these challenges will require sustained efforts to strengthen protections. This report serves as a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and advocates committed to advancing property rights and promoting economic development.
Sincerely,
Hernando de Soto
President
Lorenzo Montanari
Lorenzo Montanari, is Executive Director of the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), an advocacy group/think tank based in Washington, DC USA, affiliated to Americans for Tax Reform, committed to the protection of physical, legal and intellectual property rights around the world. At Property Rights Alliance, Lorenzo is in charge of publishing and editing the International Property Rights Index, an international comparative study focus on intellectual and physical property rights. Previously, he worked for a public affairs firm and at the international department of the GSPM/George Washington University in Washington, DC and as a political analyst and electoral observer in Latin America for European Union. Lorenzo holds a BA in Political Science and in International Relations from the University of Bologna and MA in Political Management from the George Washington University. He collaborates with Forbes.
Philip Thompson
Philip Thompson is a Policy Analyst at Tholos Foundation specializing in international intellectual property legislation and trade policy, in addition, Philip also supports the International Property Rights Index an annual publication of PRA. Before joining Tholos/PRA Philip coordinated youth community development programs in the U.S. and the Caribbean for five years, he has also interned at the American Legislative Exchange Council's foreign affairs task force and at the Cato Institute’s trade policy center. Philip holds a BA in International Conflict and Resolution and an MA in International Commerce and Policy, both from George Mason University.
Dr. Sary Levy-Carciente
Sary Levy-Carciente is a Venezuelan economist with expertise in applied economics. She holds a Doctorate in Development Studies, a master’s in international economics, and a Specialization in Administrative Sciences. Now a Research Scientist at the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom, Florida International University, was President of the National Academy of Economic Sciences in Venezuela. Full professor at the Central University of Venezuela, where she was Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences and Principal of its Research Institute. She won the prestigious Fulbright Research Fellowship at the Center for Polymer Studies at Boston University. She was a Visiting Researcher at the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts. She has been responsible for the calculation and analysis of the International Property Rights Index (PRA, Washington, DC) since 2015; and author and coordinator of the Index of Bureaucracy (Florida International University). She has numerous publications, is invited as a speaker at academic and professional conferences, and is frequently consulted by the media on economic issues.