Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia
Estonia: Citizen satisfaction with democracy was 0.3243 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia, 1991–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia stood at 0.3243.
That represents a change of down 20.5% on the previous year and up 316.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia peaked at 0.4077 in 2019 and was at its lowest, -0.7809, in 1992.
Estonia ranks 46th of 131 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | -0.7689 | — |
| 1992 | -0.7809 | +1.6% |
| 1993 | -0.6422 | -17.8% |
| 1994 | -0.5944 | -7.4% |
| 1995 | -0.4695 | -21.0% |
| 1996 | -0.3532 | -24.8% |
| 1997 | -0.3148 | -10.9% |
| 1998 | -0.3674 | +16.7% |
| 1999 | -0.4208 | +14.5% |
| 2000 | -0.4168 | -1.0% |
| 2001 | -0.4107 | -1.5% |
| 2002 | -0.4014 | -2.3% |
| 2003 | -0.3922 | -2.3% |
| 2004 | -0.379 | -3.4% |
| 2005 | -0.3247 | -14.3% |
| 2006 | -0.2729 | -15.9% |
| 2007 | -0.1294 | -52.6% |
| 2008 | -0.1722 | +33.0% |
| 2009 | -0.1622 | -5.8% |
| 2010 | -0.1497 | -7.7% |
| 2011 | -0.1856 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | -0.246 | +32.5% |
| 2013 | -0.2633 | +7.1% |
| 2014 | -0.0789 | -70.0% |
| 2015 | -0.019 | -76.0% |
| 2016 | 0.1274 | -772.0% |
| 2017 | 0.2759 | +116.5% |
| 2018 | 0.3733 | +35.3% |
| 2019 | 0.4077 | +9.2% |
| 2020 | 0.3243 | -20.5% |
Estonia compared with similar countries
- Estonia's 0.3243 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.303, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Estonia's 0.3243 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is -0.0062. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +772.0% | -0.019 | 0.1274 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -0.5236 | -0.7809 | -0.3148 | 9 |
| 2000s | -0.3062 | -0.4168 | -0.1294 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.0242 | -0.2633 | 0.4077 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3243 | 0.3243 | 0.3243 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Estonia
More social development data for Estonia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 41,299 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 86 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 86 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0302 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 citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia?
- Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Estonia was 0.3243 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Estonia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4077 in 2019.
- What is the lowest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Estonia?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.7809 in 1992.
- How does Estonia rank for citizen satisfaction with democracy?
- Estonia ranks 46th out of 131 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen satisfaction with democracy rising or falling in Estonia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 316.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Estonia data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen satisfaction with democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 30 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens are satisfied with democracy in their own country. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how citizens' satisfaction with democracy.