Poland vs South Africa: Full democracy
Poland
1
in 2025
South Africa
1
in 2025
Poland rank
1st
South Africa rank
1st
Full democracy over time
- Poland
- South Africa
How they compare
Poland currently reports 1 against 1 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was South Africa ahead.
Poland ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Poland averaged higher in 1 and South Africa in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Poland | 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 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | Poland |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 0.7 | 1 | 0.3 | South Africa |
| 2020s | 0.3333 | 1 | 0.6667 | South Africa |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher full democracy, Poland or South Africa?
- Poland, at 1 against 1 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in full democracy between Poland and South Africa?
- 0, with Poland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Poland and South Africa?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Poland and South Africa rank globally for full democracy?
- Poland 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+).