Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Finland
Finland: Citizen satisfaction with democracy was 1.61 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Finland, 1993–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Finland stood at 1.61.
The figure is down 1.9% on the previous year and up 33.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Finland peaked at 1.64 in 2019 and was at its lowest, -0.0367, in 1993.
That places Finland 10th out of 131 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Finland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | -0.0367 | — |
| 1994 | 0.0781 | -312.7% |
| 1995 | 0.116 | +48.6% |
| 1996 | 0.1591 | +37.2% |
| 1997 | 0.2028 | +27.5% |
| 1998 | 0.2601 | +28.2% |
| 1999 | 0.5429 | +108.7% |
| 2000 | 0.7041 | +29.7% |
| 2001 | 0.7577 | +7.6% |
| 2002 | 1.04 | +37.4% |
| 2003 | 1.21 | +16.5% |
| 2004 | 1.47 | +21.2% |
| 2005 | 1.5 | +2.2% |
| 2006 | 1.55 | +3.2% |
| 2007 | 1.46 | -5.9% |
| 2008 | 1.33 | -8.6% |
| 2009 | 1.14 | -14.4% |
| 2010 | 1.2 | +5.2% |
| 2011 | 1.41 | +17.6% |
| 2012 | 1.55 | +9.8% |
| 2013 | 1.44 | -7.2% |
| 2014 | 1.32 | -8.1% |
| 2015 | 1.39 | +5.0% |
| 2016 | 1.44 | +4.1% |
| 2017 | 1.55 | +7.6% |
| 2018 | 1.57 | +1.1% |
| 2019 | 1.64 | +4.4% |
| 2020 | 1.61 | -1.9% |
Finland compared with similar countries
- Finland's 1.61 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.303, 5.3× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Finland's 1.61 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 Finland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | +312.7% | -0.0367 | 0.0781 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.1889 | -0.0367 | 0.5429 | 7 |
| 2000s | 1.22 | 0.7041 | 1.55 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.45 | 1.2 | 1.64 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.61 | 1.61 | 1.61 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Finland
More social development data for Finland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 102,544 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 5 (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 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 5 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0182 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 Finland?
- Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Finland was 1.61 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Finland?
- The highest recorded value was 1.64 in 2019.
- What is the lowest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Finland?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.0367 in 1993.
- How does Finland rank for citizen satisfaction with democracy?
- Finland ranks 10th out of 131 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen satisfaction with democracy rising or falling in Finland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 33.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Finland 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 — 28 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.