Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Zambia
Zambia: Citizen satisfaction with democracy was 0.3509 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Zambia, 2003–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Zambia recorded 0.3509 for citizen satisfaction with democracy in 2020.
That represents a change of down 0.9% on the previous year and up 6.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen satisfaction with democracy in Zambia peaked at 0.9569 in 2013 and was at its lowest, -0.4256, in 2005.
That places Zambia 42nd out of 131 countries with data for 2020, putting it 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 Zambia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 0.1388 | — |
| 2004 | -0.1417 | -202.1% |
| 2005 | -0.4256 | +200.2% |
| 2006 | -0.3124 | -26.6% |
| 2007 | -0.1933 | -38.1% |
| 2008 | -0.0802 | -58.5% |
| 2009 | 0.0326 | -140.7% |
| 2010 | 0.3283 | +906.5% |
| 2011 | 0.6151 | +87.4% |
| 2012 | 0.9029 | +46.8% |
| 2013 | 0.9569 | +6.0% |
| 2014 | 0.8039 | -16.0% |
| 2015 | 0.6571 | -18.3% |
| 2016 | 0.5069 | -22.9% |
| 2017 | 0.3563 | -29.7% |
| 2018 | 0.3544 | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 0.354 | -0.1% |
| 2020 | 0.3509 | -0.9% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 0.3509 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.2275. (31 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 0.3509 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is -0.1972. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Zambia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | +906.5% | 0.0326 | 0.3283 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | -0.1403 | -0.4256 | 0.1388 | 7 |
| 2010s | 0.5836 | 0.3283 | 0.9569 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3509 | 0.3509 | 0.3509 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More social development data for Zambia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 83,225 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 346 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (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 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 346 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0038 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 Zambia?
- Citizen satisfaction with democracy in Zambia was 0.3509 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9569 in 2013.
- What is the lowest citizen satisfaction with democracy recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.4256 in 2005.
- How does Zambia rank for citizen satisfaction with democracy?
- Zambia ranks 42nd out of 131 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen satisfaction with democracy rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Zambia 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 — 18 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.