Age of electoral democracy (Lexical Index) in Tonga
Tonga: Age of electoral democracy (Lexical Index) was 16 years in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Age of electoral democracy in Tonga, 2010–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Tonga recorded 16 years for age of electoral democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.
The figure is up 6.7% on the previous year and up 166.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, age of electoral democracy in Tonga peaked at 16 years in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1 years, in 2010.
That places Tonga 111th out of 144 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Age of electoral democracy (Lexical Index) in Tonga, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1 years | — |
| 2011 | 2 years | +100.0% |
| 2012 | 3 years | +50.0% |
| 2013 | 4 years | +33.3% |
| 2014 | 5 years | +25.0% |
| 2015 | 6 years | +20.0% |
| 2016 | 7 years | +16.7% |
| 2017 | 8 years | +14.3% |
| 2018 | 9 years | +12.5% |
| 2019 | 10 years | +11.1% |
| 2020 | 11 years | +10.0% |
| 2021 | 12 years | +9.1% |
| 2022 | 13 years | +8.3% |
| 2023 | 14 years | +7.7% |
| 2024 | 15 years | +7.1% |
| 2025 | 16 years | +6.7% |
Tonga compared with similar countries
- Tonga's 16 years is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 35 years, 46% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Tonga's 16 years is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 45 years, 36% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Age of electoral democracy (Lexical Index) in Tonga changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | +100.0% | 1 years | 2 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5.5 years | 1 years | 10 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 13.5 years | 11 years | 16 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Tonga
More social development data for Tonga
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 65 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 50 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 3 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0006 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 65 (2025)
- Sovereign state gleditsch ward, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 54.76 % change on previous year (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 Tonga?
- Age of electoral democracy in Tonga was 16 years in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest age of electoral democracy recorded in Tonga?
- The highest recorded value was 16 years in 2025.
- What is the lowest age of electoral democracy recorded in Tonga?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 years in 2010.
- How does Tonga rank for age of electoral democracy?
- Tonga ranks 111th out of 144 countries with data for 2025.
- Is age of electoral democracy rising or falling in Tonga?
- Over the last ten years it is up 166.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Tonga 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 — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of consecutive years in electoral democracy.