Citizen support for democracy in Ireland
Ireland: Citizen support for democracy was -0.399 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Ireland, 1988–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Ireland recorded -0.399 for citizen support for democracy in 2020.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and up 20.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Ireland peaked at 0.5547 in 1999 and was at its lowest, -0.6256, in 2008.
Ireland ranks 77th of 144 countries on this measure, 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 Ireland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 0.0643 | — |
| 1989 | 0.0835 | +30.0% |
| 1990 | 0.1052 | +26.0% |
| 1991 | 0.1265 | +20.2% |
| 1992 | 0.1516 | +19.8% |
| 1993 | 0.2126 | +40.3% |
| 1994 | 0.2752 | +29.4% |
| 1995 | 0.346 | +25.7% |
| 1996 | 0.4111 | +18.8% |
| 1997 | 0.4781 | +16.3% |
| 1998 | 0.5182 | +8.4% |
| 1999 | 0.5547 | +7.1% |
| 2000 | 0.4338 | -21.8% |
| 2001 | 0.3228 | -25.6% |
| 2002 | 0.2131 | -34.0% |
| 2003 | 0.0748 | -64.9% |
| 2004 | -0.0583 | -177.9% |
| 2005 | -0.2032 | +248.6% |
| 2006 | -0.3442 | +69.4% |
| 2007 | -0.4822 | +40.1% |
| 2008 | -0.6256 | +29.7% |
| 2009 | -0.5667 | -9.4% |
| 2010 | -0.5029 | -11.3% |
| 2011 | -0.4415 | -12.2% |
| 2012 | -0.3808 | -13.7% |
| 2013 | -0.378 | -0.7% |
| 2014 | -0.3802 | +0.6% |
| 2015 | -0.3886 | +2.2% |
| 2016 | -0.3881 | -0.1% |
| 2017 | -0.3911 | +0.8% |
| 2018 | -0.3985 | +1.9% |
| 2019 | -0.3979 | -0.2% |
| 2020 | -0.399 | +0.3% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's -0.399 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.3338. (50 countries reporting)
- Ireland's -0.399 is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.1715. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Ireland 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 | -248.6% | -0.0583 | -0.2032 |
| 2004 | -177.9% | 0.0748 | -0.0583 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.0739 | 0.0643 | 0.0835 | 2 |
| 1990s | 0.3179 | 0.1052 | 0.5547 | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.1236 | -0.6256 | 0.4338 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.4048 | -0.5029 | -0.378 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.399 | -0.399 | -0.399 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More social development data for Ireland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 137,869 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 69 (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 69 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0251 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 Ireland?
- Citizen support for democracy in Ireland was -0.399 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5547 in 1999.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.6256 in 2008.
- How does Ireland rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Ireland ranks 77th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 20.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Ireland 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 — 33 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.