Portugal vs Spain: Electoral democracy
Portugal
2
in 2025
Spain
2
in 2025
Portugal rank
1st
Spain rank
1st
Electoral democracy over time
- Portugal
- Spain
How they compare
Portugal currently reports 2 against 2 in Spain, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was Spain ahead.
Portugal ranks 1st and Spain ranks 1st of 176 countries.
Across the 25 decades both report, Portugal averaged higher in 6 and Spain in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Portugal | Spain | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1790s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1800s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1810s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1820s | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | Spain |
| 1830s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1840s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1850s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1860s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | Spain |
| 1880s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1890s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 0.8 | 0 | 0.8 | Portugal |
| 1920s | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | Portugal |
| 1930s | 0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | Spain |
| 1940s | 0.5 | 0 | 0.5 | Portugal |
| 1950s | 0.9 | 0 | 0.9 | Portugal |
| 1960s | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | Portugal |
| 1970s | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.1 | Portugal |
| 1980s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher electoral democracy, Portugal or Spain?
- Portugal, at 2 against 2 in Spain as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electoral democracy between Portugal and Spain?
- 0, with Portugal ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Portugal and Spain?
- 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do Portugal and Spain rank globally for electoral democracy?
- Portugal ranks 1st and Spain ranks 1st of 176 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Electoral democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg.