Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Nigeria
Nigeria: Citizen satisfaction with democracy was -0.0331 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Nigeria, 2000–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded -0.0331 for citizen satisfaction with democracy in 2020.
That represents a change of up 4.2% on the previous year and up 93.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Nigeria peaked at 0.234 in 2000 and was at its lowest, -0.5662, in 2005.
Nigeria ranks 66th 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 Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 0.234 | — |
| 2001 | 0.0659 | -71.9% |
| 2002 | -0.0963 | -246.1% |
| 2003 | -0.2613 | +171.5% |
| 2004 | -0.4122 | +57.7% |
| 2005 | -0.5662 | +37.4% |
| 2006 | -0.545 | -3.7% |
| 2007 | -0.5214 | -4.3% |
| 2008 | -0.5031 | -3.5% |
| 2009 | -0.4982 | -1.0% |
| 2010 | -0.4954 | -0.6% |
| 2011 | -0.4873 | -1.6% |
| 2012 | -0.4846 | -0.6% |
| 2013 | -0.4963 | +2.4% |
| 2014 | -0.4492 | -9.5% |
| 2015 | -0.3049 | -32.1% |
| 2016 | -0.1582 | -48.1% |
| 2017 | -0.0143 | -91.0% |
| 2018 | -0.0414 | +189.7% |
| 2019 | -0.0346 | -16.5% |
| 2020 | -0.0331 | -4.2% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's -0.0331 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.2275, 15% of the median. (31 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's -0.0331 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is -0.1972, 17% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Nigeria 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | -246.1% | 0.0659 | -0.0963 |
| 2018 | -189.7% | -0.0143 | -0.0414 |
| 2003 | -171.5% | -0.0963 | -0.2613 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | -0.3104 | -0.5662 | 0.234 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.2966 | -0.4963 | -0.0143 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.0331 | -0.0331 | -0.0331 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More social development data for Nigeria
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 123,848 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0005 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 Nigeria?
- Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Nigeria was -0.0331 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.234 in 2000.
- What is the lowest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.5662 in 2005.
- How does Nigeria rank for citizen satisfaction with democracy?
- Nigeria ranks 66th out of 131 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen satisfaction with democracy rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 93.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Nigeria 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 — 21 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.