Citizen support for democracy in Brazil
Brazil: Citizen support for democracy was -0.8999 in 2020. ▼ Falling
Citizen support for democracy in Brazil, 1995–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Brazil recorded -0.8999 for citizen support for democracy in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.6% on the previous year and down 289.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Brazil peaked at -0.231 in 2010 and was at its lowest, -1.07, in 2018.
Brazil ranks 106th of 144 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Citizen support for democracy in Brazil, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | -0.5568 | — |
| 1996 | -0.4626 | -16.9% |
| 1997 | -0.4574 | -1.1% |
| 1998 | -0.543 | +18.7% |
| 1999 | -0.6987 | +28.7% |
| 2000 | -0.8542 | +22.2% |
| 2001 | -0.9716 | +13.7% |
| 2002 | -0.8996 | -7.4% |
| 2003 | -0.9068 | +0.8% |
| 2004 | -0.8284 | -8.6% |
| 2005 | -0.7693 | -7.1% |
| 2006 | -0.4827 | -37.3% |
| 2007 | -0.4819 | -0.2% |
| 2008 | -0.3897 | -19.1% |
| 2009 | -0.2411 | -38.1% |
| 2010 | -0.231 | -4.2% |
| 2011 | -0.3569 | +54.5% |
| 2012 | -0.3779 | +5.9% |
| 2013 | -0.3772 | -0.2% |
| 2014 | -0.5965 | +58.1% |
| 2015 | -0.6452 | +8.2% |
| 2016 | -0.8773 | +36.0% |
| 2017 | -0.974 | +11.0% |
| 2018 | -1.07 | +10.2% |
| 2019 | -0.9436 | -12.1% |
| 2020 | -0.8999 | -4.6% |
Brazil compared with similar countries
- Brazil's -0.8999 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is -0.9114, 99% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Brazil's -0.8999 is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is -0.7907, 1.1× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | -0.5437 | -0.6987 | -0.4574 | 5 |
| 2000s | -0.6825 | -0.9716 | -0.2411 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.6453 | -1.07 | -0.231 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.8999 | -0.8999 | -0.8999 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Brazil
More social development data for Brazil
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 278,966 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 6,306 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (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 6,306 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0013 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 Brazil?
- Citizen support for democracy in Brazil was -0.8999 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Brazil?
- The highest recorded value was -0.231 in 2010.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Brazil?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.07 in 2018.
- How does Brazil rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Brazil ranks 106th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Brazil?
- Over the last ten years it is down 289.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Brazil 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 — 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 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.