Citizen support for democracy in Nigeria
Nigeria: Citizen support for democracy was -0.801 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Nigeria, 1995–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded -0.801 for citizen support for democracy in 2020.
The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and down 223.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Nigeria peaked at 0.3077 in 1995 and was at its lowest, -0.8059, in 2019.
Nigeria ranks 99th 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 Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 0.3077 | — |
| 1996 | 0.2621 | -14.8% |
| 1997 | 0.2077 | -20.8% |
| 1998 | 0.1527 | -26.5% |
| 1999 | 0.1051 | -31.2% |
| 2000 | 0.0559 | -46.8% |
| 2001 | -0.1676 | -399.7% |
| 2002 | -0.3952 | +135.8% |
| 2003 | -0.5841 | +47.8% |
| 2004 | -0.5656 | -3.2% |
| 2005 | -0.5428 | -4.0% |
| 2006 | -0.4436 | -18.3% |
| 2007 | -0.3492 | -21.3% |
| 2008 | -0.4398 | +25.9% |
| 2009 | -0.3422 | -22.2% |
| 2010 | -0.2476 | -27.6% |
| 2011 | -0.2177 | -12.1% |
| 2012 | -0.2791 | +28.2% |
| 2013 | -0.3295 | +18.1% |
| 2014 | -0.4493 | +36.3% |
| 2015 | -0.5712 | +27.1% |
| 2016 | -0.6143 | +7.6% |
| 2017 | -0.6683 | +8.8% |
| 2018 | -0.8021 | +20.0% |
| 2019 | -0.8059 | +0.5% |
| 2020 | -0.801 | -0.6% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's -0.801 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.6191, 1.3× the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's -0.801 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.019. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Nigeria 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | -399.7% | 0.0559 | -0.1676 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.207 | 0.1051 | 0.3077 | 5 |
| 2000s | -0.3774 | -0.5841 | 0.0559 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.4985 | -0.8059 | -0.2177 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.801 | -0.801 | -0.801 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More social development data for Nigeria
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 123,848 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478,150 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0005 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 Nigeria?
- Citizen support for democracy in Nigeria was -0.801 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 0.3077 in 1995.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.8059 in 2019.
- How does Nigeria rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Nigeria ranks 99th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 223.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Nigeria 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 — 26 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.