Citizen support for democracy in Portugal
Portugal: Citizen support for democracy was -0.5501 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Portugal, 1988–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Portugal recorded -0.5501 for citizen support for democracy in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 33 years on record.
The figure is down 6.6% on the previous year and down 109.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Portugal peaked at 1 in 1988 and was at its lowest, -0.5501, in 2020.
Portugal ranks 86th 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.9713 | 0.9393 | 1 | 2 |
| 1990s | 0.3524 | -0.1042 | 0.8793 | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.0983 | -0.2427 | -0.0028 | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.3787 | -0.5161 | -0.2622 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.5501 | -0.5501 | -0.5501 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More social development data for Portugal
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 70,349 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 109 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.822 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.899 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.874 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.822 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.529 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.717 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Portugal?
- Citizen support for democracy in Portugal was -0.5501 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1988.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.5501 in 2020.
- How does Portugal rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Portugal ranks 86th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 109.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Portugal 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.