Citizen support for democracy in Ghana
Ghana: Citizen support for democracy was 0.234 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Ghana, 1999–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Ghana recorded 0.234 for citizen support for democracy in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.7% on the previous year and down 67.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Ghana peaked at 0.8536 in 2012 and was at its lowest, 0.0389, in 2002.
That places Ghana 43rd 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 Ghana, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 0.4262 | — |
| 2000 | 0.3 | -29.6% |
| 2001 | 0.1725 | -42.5% |
| 2002 | 0.0389 | -77.4% |
| 2003 | 0.1571 | +303.9% |
| 2004 | 0.2771 | +76.4% |
| 2005 | 0.3819 | +37.8% |
| 2006 | 0.4467 | +17.0% |
| 2007 | 0.5176 | +15.9% |
| 2008 | 0.4815 | -7.0% |
| 2009 | 0.5984 | +24.3% |
| 2010 | 0.7174 | +19.9% |
| 2011 | 0.8265 | +15.2% |
| 2012 | 0.8536 | +3.3% |
| 2013 | 0.6586 | -22.9% |
| 2014 | 0.3836 | -41.7% |
| 2015 | 0.3409 | -11.1% |
| 2016 | 0.2881 | -15.5% |
| 2017 | 0.2245 | -22.1% |
| 2018 | 0.2317 | +3.2% |
| 2019 | 0.2302 | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 0.234 | +1.7% |
Ghana compared with similar countries
- Ghana's 0.234 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.6191. (35 countries reporting)
- Ghana's 0.234 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.019, 12.3× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Ghana 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | +303.9% | 0.0389 | 0.1571 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.4262 | 0.4262 | 0.4262 | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.3372 | 0.0389 | 0.5984 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4755 | 0.2245 | 0.8536 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.234 | 0.234 | 0.234 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ghana
More social development data for Ghana
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 21,050 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 16,030 (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 0.0005 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 16,030 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0006 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 Ghana?
- Citizen support for democracy in Ghana was 0.234 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Ghana?
- The highest recorded value was 0.8536 in 2012.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Ghana?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0389 in 2002.
- How does Ghana rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Ghana ranks 43rd out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Ghana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 67.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Ghana 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 — 22 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.