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.
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
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 144,116 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 128 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.889 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.946 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.931 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.889 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.635 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.853 (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.