Citizen support for democracy in Iceland
Iceland: Citizen support for democracy was 2.89 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen support for democracy in Iceland, 1999–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in Iceland is 2.89, measured in 2020.
That represents a change of up 18.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Iceland peaked at 2.9 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 2.38, in 2009.
Iceland ranks 1st of 144 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Citizen support for democracy in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2.54 | — |
| 2000 | 2.51 | -1.2% |
| 2001 | 2.49 | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 2.47 | -1.1% |
| 2003 | 2.46 | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 2.44 | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 2.43 | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 2.41 | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 2.4 | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 2.39 | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 2.38 | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 2.45 | +2.7% |
| 2011 | 2.51 | +2.7% |
| 2012 | 2.57 | +2.3% |
| 2013 | 2.63 | +2.5% |
| 2014 | 2.69 | +2.3% |
| 2015 | 2.76 | +2.5% |
| 2016 | 2.84 | +2.9% |
| 2017 | 2.9 | +2.1% |
| 2018 | 2.9 | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 2.89 | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 2.89 | -0.0% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 2.89 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.3338, 8.7× the median. (50 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 2.89 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.1715, 16.8× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.54 | 2.54 | 2.54 | 1 |
| 2000s | 2.44 | 2.38 | 2.51 | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.71 | 2.45 | 2.9 | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.89 | 2.89 | 2.89 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More social development data for Iceland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,459 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (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 0 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0216 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 Iceland?
- Citizen support for democracy in Iceland was 2.89 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 2.9 in 2017.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.38 in 2009.
- How does Iceland rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Iceland ranks 1st out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 18.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland 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.