Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Sweden
Sweden: Citizen satisfaction with democracy was 1.41 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Sweden, 1995–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen satisfaction with democracy in Sweden is 1.41, measured in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.3% on the previous year and down 17.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Sweden peaked at 1.91 in 2012 and was at its lowest, 0.0375, in 1995.
Sweden ranks 11th of 131 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Sweden, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 0.0375 | — |
| 1996 | 0.0931 | +148.5% |
| 1997 | 0.1506 | +61.8% |
| 1998 | 0.325 | +115.8% |
| 1999 | 0.4964 | +52.8% |
| 2000 | 0.5657 | +14.0% |
| 2001 | 0.6896 | +21.9% |
| 2002 | 1 | +45.2% |
| 2003 | 1.01 | +0.9% |
| 2004 | 0.976 | -3.4% |
| 2005 | 0.9606 | -1.6% |
| 2006 | 1 | +4.1% |
| 2007 | 1.24 | +24.5% |
| 2008 | 1.37 | +10.0% |
| 2009 | 1.47 | +7.2% |
| 2010 | 1.71 | +16.7% |
| 2011 | 1.86 | +8.7% |
| 2012 | 1.91 | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 1.8 | -5.8% |
| 2014 | 1.72 | -4.7% |
| 2015 | 1.64 | -4.8% |
| 2016 | 1.58 | -3.6% |
| 2017 | 1.57 | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 1.46 | -7.3% |
| 2019 | 1.46 | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 1.41 | -3.3% |
Sweden compared with similar countries
- Sweden's 1.41 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.303, 4.7× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Sweden's 1.41 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 Sweden 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | +148.5% | 0.0375 | 0.0931 |
| 1998 | +115.8% | 0.1506 | 0.325 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.2205 | 0.0375 | 0.4964 | 5 |
| 2000s | 1.03 | 0.5657 | 1.47 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.67 | 1.46 | 1.91 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.41 | 1.41 | 1.41 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More social development data for Sweden
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 144,116 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 128 (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 128 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0136 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 Sweden?
- Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Sweden was 1.41 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 1.91 in 2012.
- What is the lowest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0375 in 1995.
- How does Sweden rank for citizen satisfaction with democracy?
- Sweden ranks 11th out of 131 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen satisfaction with democracy rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is down 17.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden 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 — 26 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.