Which has higher participatory democracy index, Ecuador or South Africa?

South Africa, at 0.47 against 0.462 in Ecuador as of 2025.

What is the difference in participatory democracy index between Ecuador and South Africa?

0.008, with South Africa ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Ecuador and South Africa?

126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Participatory Democracy Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Ecuador vs South Africa: Participatory Democracy Index

Ecuador

0.462

in 2025

South Africa

0.47

in 2025

Ecuador rank

47th

South Africa rank

45th

Participatory Democracy Index over time

Ecuador
South Africa

How they compare

South Africa currently reports 0.47 against 0.462 in Ecuador, a difference of 0.008.

The two have swapped places 17 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was Ecuador ahead.

Ecuador ranks 47th and South Africa ranks 45th of 176 countries.

Across the 13 decades both report, Ecuador averaged higher in 6 and South Africa in 7.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Ecuador	South Africa	Difference	Ahead
1900s	0.138	0.1112	0.0268	Ecuador
1910s	0.1395	0.1424	0.0029	South Africa
1920s	0.1357	0.1443	0.0086	South Africa
1930s	0.1358	0.1495	0.0137	South Africa
1940s	0.1413	0.1463	0.005	South Africa
1950s	0.1902	0.1313	0.0589	Ecuador
1960s	0.1515	0.1265	0.025	Ecuador
1970s	0.1502	0.1265	0.0237	Ecuador
1980s	0.4279	0.1286	0.2993	Ecuador
1990s	0.4675	0.3318	0.1357	Ecuador
2000s	0.4731	0.525	0.0519	South Africa
2010s	0.3933	0.5034	0.1101	South Africa
2020s	0.461	0.4613	0.0003	South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher participatory democracy index, Ecuador or South Africa?: South Africa, at 0.47 against 0.462 in Ecuador as of 2025.
What is the difference in participatory democracy index between Ecuador and South Africa?: 0.008, with South Africa ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Ecuador and South Africa?: 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
How do Ecuador and South Africa rank globally for participatory democracy index?: Ecuador ranks 47th and South Africa ranks 45th of 176 countries.
Where does this data come from?: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Participatory Democracy Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Ecuador vs South Africa: Participatory Democracy Index. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 November 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/participatory-democracy-index/ecuador/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/participatory-democracy-index/ecuador/south-africa/">Ecuador vs South Africa: Participatory Democracy Index</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Participatory Democracy Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 29,363 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 30 October 2026

Central estimate of the extent of suffrage, the freedom and fairness of elections, freedoms of association and expression, as well as the extent to which citizens can engage in regional and local government, civil society organizations, and direct democracy.