Japan vs South Korea: Liberal democracy
Japan
3
in 2025
South Korea
3
in 2025
Japan rank
1st
South Korea rank
1st
Liberal democracy over time
- Japan
- South Korea
How they compare
Japan currently reports 3 against 3 in South Korea, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was South Korea ahead.
Japan ranks 1st and South Korea ranks 1st of 176 countries.
Across the 25 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 6 and South Korea in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | South Korea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1790s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1800s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1810s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1820s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1830s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1840s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1850s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1860s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1880s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1890s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | South Korea |
| 1950s | 2.4 | 1 | 1.4 | Japan |
| 1960s | 3 | 0.9 | 2.1 | Japan |
| 1970s | 3 | 1 | 2 | Japan |
| 1980s | 3 | 1.2 | 1.8 | Japan |
| 1990s | 3 | 2.7 | 0.3 | Japan |
| 2000s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 3 | 2.83 | 0.1667 | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher liberal democracy, Japan or South Korea?
- Japan, at 3 against 3 in South Korea as of 2025.
- What is the difference in liberal democracy between Japan and South Korea?
- 0, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and South Korea?
- 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do Japan and South Korea rank globally for liberal democracy?
- Japan ranks 1st and South Korea ranks 1st of 176 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Liberal 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 by distinguishing between closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracies.