Citizen support for democracy in Hungary
Hungary: Citizen support for democracy was 0.851 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Hungary, 1990–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen support for democracy in Hungary stood at 0.851.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 131.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Hungary peaked at 0.8512 in 2019 and was at its lowest, -0.0019, in 2004.
That places Hungary 20th out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Citizen support for democracy in Hungary, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.1925 | — |
| 1991 | 0.2498 | +29.8% |
| 1992 | 0.2889 | +15.6% |
| 1993 | 0.4211 | +45.8% |
| 1994 | 0.4258 | +1.1% |
| 1995 | 0.4203 | -1.3% |
| 1996 | 0.4399 | +4.7% |
| 1997 | 0.4584 | +4.2% |
| 1998 | 0.4821 | +5.2% |
| 1999 | 0.3153 | -34.6% |
| 2000 | 0.262 | -16.9% |
| 2001 | 0.2087 | -20.4% |
| 2002 | 0.1186 | -43.2% |
| 2003 | 0.0586 | -50.6% |
| 2004 | -0.0019 | -103.3% |
| 2005 | 0.074 | -3942.1% |
| 2006 | 0.153 | +106.7% |
| 2007 | 0.2252 | +47.2% |
| 2008 | 0.2993 | +32.9% |
| 2009 | 0.3019 | +0.9% |
| 2010 | 0.3685 | +22.0% |
| 2011 | 0.4287 | +16.3% |
| 2012 | 0.4798 | +11.9% |
| 2013 | 0.5493 | +14.5% |
| 2014 | 0.6172 | +12.4% |
| 2015 | 0.6864 | +11.2% |
| 2016 | 0.7315 | +6.6% |
| 2017 | 0.754 | +3.1% |
| 2018 | 0.845 | +12.1% |
| 2019 | 0.8512 | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 0.851 | -0.0% |
Hungary compared with similar countries
- Hungary's 0.851 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.3338, 2.5× the median. (50 countries reporting)
- Hungary's 0.851 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.1715, 5.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Hungary 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +3942.1% | -0.0019 | 0.074 |
| 2004 | -103.3% | 0.0586 | -0.0019 |
| 2006 | +106.7% | 0.074 | 0.153 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.3694 | 0.1925 | 0.4821 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.1699 | -0.0019 | 0.3019 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.6311 | 0.3685 | 0.8512 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.851 | 0.851 | 0.851 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Hungary
More social development data for Hungary
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 71,332 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,055 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 3 (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 2,055 (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 Hungary?
- Citizen support for democracy in Hungary was 0.851 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Hungary?
- The highest recorded value was 0.8512 in 2019.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Hungary?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.0019 in 2004.
- How does Hungary rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Hungary ranks 20th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Hungary?
- Over the last ten years it is up 131.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Hungary 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 — 31 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.