Citizen support for democracy in New Zealand
New Zealand: Citizen support for democracy was 0.8661 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen support for democracy in New Zealand, 1998–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in New Zealand is 0.8661, measured in 2020. That is the highest value across all 23 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.8% on the previous year and up 77.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in New Zealand peaked at 0.8661 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.3168, in 2002.
New Zealand ranks 19th of 144 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.3615 | 0.3553 | 0.3677 | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.3926 | 0.3168 | 0.4654 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.6597 | 0.4887 | 0.8263 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8661 | 0.8661 | 0.8661 | 1 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More social development data for New Zealand
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,148 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 58 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.849 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.927 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.885 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.849 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.581 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.787 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in New Zealand?
- Citizen support for democracy in New Zealand was 0.8661 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 0.8661 in 2020.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3168 in 2002.
- How does New Zealand rank for citizen support for democracy?
- New Zealand ranks 19th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 77.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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 — 23 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.