Citizen support for democracy in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Citizen support for democracy was -0.2583 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Ethiopia, 2007–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in Ethiopia is -0.2583, measured in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of down 21.6% on the previous year and down 188.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Ethiopia peaked at 0.4514 in 2007 and was at its lowest, -0.2583, in 2020.
That places Ethiopia 72nd out of 144 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 support for democracy in Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 0.4514 | — |
| 2008 | 0.402 | -10.9% |
| 2009 | 0.349 | -13.2% |
| 2010 | 0.2926 | -16.2% |
| 2011 | 0.2413 | -17.5% |
| 2012 | 0.1778 | -26.3% |
| 2013 | 0.1259 | -29.2% |
| 2014 | 0.0608 | -51.7% |
| 2015 | 0.0062 | -89.9% |
| 2016 | -0.0483 | -882.7% |
| 2017 | -0.1022 | +111.8% |
| 2018 | -0.1543 | +50.9% |
| 2019 | -0.2124 | +37.7% |
| 2020 | -0.2583 | +21.6% |
Ethiopia compared with similar countries
- Ethiopia's -0.2583 is below the median for low income countries, which is -0.2471, 1.0× the median. (14 countries reporting)
- Ethiopia's -0.2583 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.019. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Ethiopia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | -882.7% | 0.0062 | -0.0483 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.4008 | 0.349 | 0.4514 | 3 |
| 2010s | 0.0387 | -0.2124 | 0.2926 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.2583 | -0.2583 | -0.2583 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More social development data for Ethiopia
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1.01 million (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 164,215 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0012 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 164,215 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0075 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 Ethiopia?
- Citizen support for democracy in Ethiopia was -0.2583 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4514 in 2007.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.2583 in 2020.
- How does Ethiopia rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Ethiopia ranks 72nd out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 188.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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 — 14 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.