Citizen support for democracy in Bahrain
Bahrain: Citizen support for democracy was -0.8121 in 2020. ▼ Falling
Citizen support for democracy in Bahrain, 2006–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen support for democracy in Bahrain stood at -0.8121.
The figure is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 99.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Bahrain peaked at -0.004 in 2006 and was at its lowest, -0.8207, in 2015.
Bahrain ranks 101st of 144 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 15 years of available data.
Citizen support for democracy in Bahrain, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | -0.004 | — |
| 2007 | -0.1022 | +2429.0% |
| 2008 | -0.2035 | +99.1% |
| 2009 | -0.3072 | +51.0% |
| 2010 | -0.4081 | +32.9% |
| 2011 | -0.5116 | +25.4% |
| 2012 | -0.6164 | +20.5% |
| 2013 | -0.7202 | +16.8% |
| 2014 | -0.8195 | +13.8% |
| 2015 | -0.8207 | +0.1% |
| 2016 | -0.8167 | -0.5% |
| 2017 | -0.8069 | -1.2% |
| 2018 | -0.8078 | +0.1% |
| 2019 | -0.8086 | +0.1% |
| 2020 | -0.8121 | +0.4% |
Bahrain compared with similar countries
- Bahrain's -0.8121 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.3338. (50 countries reporting)
- Bahrain's -0.8121 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is -0.8121, 1.0× the median. (17 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Bahrain 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | -2429.0% | -0.004 | -0.1022 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | -0.1542 | -0.3072 | -0.004 | 4 |
| 2010s | -0.7136 | -0.8207 | -0.4081 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.8121 | -0.8121 | -0.8121 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Bahrain
More social development data for Bahrain
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 240 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 267 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 267 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 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 support for democracy in Bahrain?
- Citizen support for democracy in Bahrain was -0.8121 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Bahrain?
- The highest recorded value was -0.004 in 2006.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Bahrain?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.8207 in 2015.
- How does Bahrain rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Bahrain ranks 101st out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Bahrain?
- Over the last ten years it is down 99.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bahrain data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 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 support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.