Age of electoral democracy (Lexical Index) in Somalia
Somalia: Age of electoral democracy (Lexical Index) was 9 years in 1968. ◆ Volatile
Age of electoral democracy in Somalia, 1960–1968
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for age of electoral democracy in Somalia is 9 years, measured in 1968. That is the highest value across all 9 years on record.
That represents a change of up 12.5% on the previous year and up 800.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, age of electoral democracy in Somalia peaked at 9 years in 1968 and was at its lowest, 1 years, in 1960.
Somalia ranks 125th of 144 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
Age of electoral democracy (Lexical Index) in Somalia, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 1 years | — |
| 1961 | 2 years | +100.0% |
| 1962 | 3 years | +50.0% |
| 1963 | 4 years | +33.3% |
| 1964 | 5 years | +25.0% |
| 1965 | 6 years | +20.0% |
| 1966 | 7 years | +16.7% |
| 1967 | 8 years | +14.3% |
| 1968 | 9 years | +12.5% |
Somalia compared with similar countries
- Somalia's 9 years is above the median for low income countries, which is 9 years, 1.0× the median. (14 countries reporting)
- Somalia's 9 years is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14 years, 64% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Countries ranked near Somalia
- 122 Central African Republic 10 years
- 122 Madagascar 10 years
- 122 Tunisia 10 years
- 125 Cote d'Ivoire 9 years
- 125 Gambia 9 years compare
- 125 Guinea-Bissau 9 years
More social development data for Somalia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 20,967 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 892,037 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0454 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 892,037 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0011 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is age of electoral democracy in Somalia?
- Age of electoral democracy in Somalia was 9 years in 1968, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest age of electoral democracy recorded in Somalia?
- The highest recorded value was 9 years in 1968.
- What is the lowest age of electoral democracy recorded in Somalia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 years in 1960.
- How does Somalia rank for age of electoral democracy?
- Somalia ranks 125th out of 144 countries with data for 1968.
- Is age of electoral democracy rising or falling in Somalia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 800.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Somalia data come from?
- The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Age of electoral democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 9 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of consecutive years in electoral democracy.