Panama vs South Africa: Full democracy
Panama
1
in 2025
South Africa
1
in 2025
Panama rank
1st
South Africa rank
1st
Full democracy over time
- Panama
- South Africa
How they compare
Panama currently reports 1 against 1 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
Across all 123 years both countries report, South Africa has been ahead every year.
Panama ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 198 countries.
South Africa has averaged higher in every one of the 13 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Panama | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1960s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | South Africa |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher full democracy, Panama or South Africa?
- Panama, at 1 against 1 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in full democracy between Panama and South Africa?
- 0, with Panama ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Panama and South Africa?
- 123 years are reported by both, from 1903 to 2025.
- How do Panama and South Africa rank globally for full democracy?
- Panama ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 198 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Full democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Identifies if a country is a full democracy using the extended Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy (LIED+).