Citizen support for democracy in Belgium
Belgium: Citizen support for democracy was 0.6238 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen support for democracy in Belgium, 1988–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in Belgium is 0.6238, measured in 2020.
That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and down 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Belgium peaked at 0.7551 in 1988 and was at its lowest, 0.3524, in 1997.
That places Belgium 28th out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 33 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.7344 | 0.7137 | 0.7551 | 2 |
| 1990s | 0.5066 | 0.3524 | 0.6696 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.6095 | 0.5255 | 0.682 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.629 | 0.6141 | 0.6635 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6238 | 0.6238 | 0.6238 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Belgium
More social development data for Belgium
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 186,393 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 113 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.889 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.969 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.896 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.889 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.633 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.794 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Belgium?
- Citizen support for democracy in Belgium was 0.6238 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Belgium?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7551 in 1988.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Belgium?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3524 in 1997.
- How does Belgium rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Belgium ranks 28th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Belgium?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Belgium 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 — 33 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.