Age of full democracy by country

Number of consecutive years in a full democracy.

Countries reporting
86
Highest
80 years
Norway
Lowest
1 years
Mauritius
Median
38 years
Years covered
133
1893–2025
Data points
4,197

What the numbers show

Age of full democracy is currently reported for 86 countries. The highest value is 80 years in Norway; the lowest is 1 years in Mauritius.

The median across all reporting countries is 38 years, and the mean is 41.84 years.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 80.

Over the past decade 79 countries rose and 4 fell. The largest increase was in Honduras (up 1,000.0%), and the largest decrease in Mauritius (down 95.7%).

Age of full democracy: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Norway 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 France 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 Australia 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 Denmark 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 United Kingdom 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 Iceland 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 New Zealand 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 Netherlands 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 Canada 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
1 Sweden 80 years 2025 up 14.3% volatile
13 Belgium 77 years 2025 up 14.9% volatile
14 Finland 76 years 2025 up 15.2% volatile
15 Japan 72 years 2025 up 16.1% volatile
16 Austria 70 years 2025 up 16.7% volatile
16 Italy 70 years 2025 up 16.7% volatile
18 San Marino 69 years 2025 up 16.9% volatile
19 Costa Rica 67 years 2025 up 17.5% volatile
21 Trinidad and Tobago 64 years 2025 up 18.5% volatile
22 Belize 62 years 2025 up 19.2% volatile
22 Bahamas 62 years 2025 up 19.2% volatile
24 United States 61 years 2025 up 19.6% volatile
25 Barbados 60 years 2025 up 20.0% volatile
25 Nauru 60 years 2025 up 20.0% volatile
27 Saint Kitts and Nevis 59 years 2025 up 20.4% volatile
27 Dominica 59 years 2025 up 20.4% volatile
29 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 57 years 2025 up 21.3% volatile
30 Switzerland 55 years 2025 up 22.2% volatile
31 Greece 51 years 2025 up 24.4% volatile
32 Portugal 50 years 2025 up 25.0% volatile
33 Papua New Guinea 48 years 2025 up 26.3% volatile
33 Kiribati 48 years 2025 up 26.3% volatile
33 Tuvalu 48 years 2025 up 26.3% volatile
36 Micronesia (country) 47 years 2025 up 27.0% volatile
36 Marshall Islands 47 years 2025 up 27.0% volatile
38 Spain 46 years 2025 up 27.8% volatile
38 Saint Lucia 46 years 2025 up 27.8% volatile
38 Vanuatu 46 years 2025 up 27.8% volatile
41 Palau 45 years 2025 up 28.6% volatile
41 Jamaica 45 years 2025 up 28.6% volatile
43 Argentina 40 years 2025 up 33.3% volatile
43 Uruguay 40 years 2025 up 33.3% volatile
43 India 40 years 2017 up 33.3% volatile
43 Grenada 40 years 2025 up 33.3% volatile
47 Chile 36 years 2025 up 38.5% volatile
47 Cyprus 36 years 2025 up 38.5% volatile
47 Germany 36 years 2025 up 38.5% volatile
47 Namibia 36 years 2025 up 38.5% volatile
47 Samoa 36 years 2025 up 38.5% volatile
52 Suriname 35 years 2025 up 40.0% volatile
52 Estonia 35 years 2025 up 40.0% volatile
54 Mongolia 34 years 2025 up 41.7% volatile
54 Cape Verde 34 years 2025 up 41.7% volatile
56 Andorra 33 years 2025 up 43.5% volatile
56 Latvia 33 years 2025 up 43.5% volatile
56 Czechia 33 years 2025 up 43.5% volatile
59 South Africa 32 years 2025 up 45.5% volatile
59 Lithuania 32 years 2025 up 45.5% volatile
61 Dominican Republic 30 years 2025 up 50.0% volatile
62 South Korea 29 years 2025 up 52.6% volatile
63 Venezuela 28 years 1997 up 55.6% volatile
64 Panama 26 years 2025 up 62.5% volatile
64 Slovakia 26 years 2024 up 62.5% volatile
64 Croatia 26 years 2025 up 62.5% volatile
64 Ghana 26 years 2025 up 62.5% volatile
64 Taiwan 26 years 2025 up 62.5% volatile
69 Bulgaria 25 years 2025 up 66.7% volatile
69 Botswana 25 years 2012 up 66.7% volatile
69 Hungary 25 years 2014 up 66.7% volatile
72 Benin 23 years 2017 up 76.9% volatile
73 Sri Lanka 22 years 1969 up 83.3% volatile
74 Peru 21 years 2021 up 90.9% volatile
75 Romania 20 years 2025 up 100.0% volatile
76 Sao Tome and Principe 16 years 2025 up 166.7% volatile
76 Senegal 16 years 2016 up 166.7% volatile
78 Bolivia 14 years 2004 up 250.0% volatile
79 Guyana 13 years 2025 up 333.3% volatile
80 Honduras 11 years 2008 up 1,000.0% volatile
81 Philippines 9 years 1998 up 800.0% volatile
82 Tonga 8 years 2025 up 700.0% volatile
83 Seychelles 5 years 2025 rising
83 Antigua and Barbuda 5 years 2025 rising
83 El Salvador 5 years 2014 rising
86 Slovenia 4 years 2025 down 82.6% volatile
87 Brazil 3 years 2025 down 88.5% volatile
88 Poland 2 years 2025 down 92.3% volatile
89 Mauritius 1 years 2025 down 95.7% volatile

About this data

Indicator
Age of full democracy
Unit
years
Source
Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
89 places, 4,197 data points, 1893–2025
Last refreshed

Number of consecutive years in a full democracy.