Citizen support for democracy in Nicaragua
Nicaragua: Citizen support for democracy was -0.6735 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Nicaragua, 1996–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen support for democracy in Nicaragua stood at -0.6735. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is down 7.5% on the previous year and down 2,671.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Nicaragua peaked at 0.5149 in 1998 and was at its lowest, -0.6735, in 2020.
That places Nicaragua 92nd 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 Nicaragua, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 0.3718 | — |
| 1997 | 0.4804 | +29.2% |
| 1998 | 0.5149 | +7.2% |
| 1999 | 0.3604 | -30.0% |
| 2000 | 0.2053 | -43.0% |
| 2001 | -0.0564 | -127.5% |
| 2002 | 0.0188 | -133.3% |
| 2003 | -0.2208 | -1275.6% |
| 2004 | -0.4255 | +92.7% |
| 2005 | -0.3479 | -18.2% |
| 2006 | -0.4216 | +21.2% |
| 2007 | -0.1754 | -58.4% |
| 2008 | -0.1598 | -8.9% |
| 2009 | -0.1197 | -25.1% |
| 2010 | -0.0243 | -79.7% |
| 2011 | -0.0437 | +79.8% |
| 2012 | 0.1563 | -457.8% |
| 2013 | 0.0006 | -99.6% |
| 2014 | -0.0986 | -15909.5% |
| 2015 | -0.1991 | +102.0% |
| 2016 | -0.2908 | +46.0% |
| 2017 | -0.4056 | +39.5% |
| 2018 | -0.4639 | +14.4% |
| 2019 | -0.6264 | +35.0% |
| 2020 | -0.6735 | +7.5% |
Nicaragua compared with similar countries
- Nicaragua's -0.6735 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.6191, 1.1× the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Nicaragua's -0.6735 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is -0.7907, 85% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Nicaragua 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | -15909.5% | 0.0006 | -0.0986 |
| 2003 | -1275.6% | 0.0188 | -0.2208 |
| 2012 | +457.8% | -0.0437 | 0.1563 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.4319 | 0.3604 | 0.5149 | 4 |
| 2000s | -0.1703 | -0.4255 | 0.2053 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.1995 | -0.6264 | 0.1563 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.6735 | -0.6735 | -0.6735 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Nicaragua
- 89 Yemen -0.595 compare
- 90 Morocco -0.6191 compare
- 91 Eswatini -0.6218 compare
- 93 Burkina Faso -0.7201 compare
- 94 El Salvador -0.7299 compare
- 95 Bangladesh -0.7347 compare
More social development data for Nicaragua
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 311 (2023)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 35,341 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.005 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 35,341 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2023)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Nicaragua?
- Citizen support for democracy in Nicaragua was -0.6735 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Nicaragua?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5149 in 1998.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Nicaragua?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.6735 in 2020.
- How does Nicaragua rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Nicaragua ranks 92nd out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Nicaragua?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2,671.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Nicaragua 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 — 25 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.