Citizen support for democracy in Spain
Spain: Citizen support for democracy was 1.08 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen support for democracy in Spain, 1988–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in Spain is 1.08, measured in 2020.
The figure is down 0.3% on the previous year and up 55.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Spain peaked at 1.08 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.5321, in 1988.
Spain ranks 13th of 144 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 33 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.5439 | 0.5321 | 0.5558 | 2 |
| 1990s | 0.6132 | 0.5349 | 0.6566 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8231 | 0.7482 | 0.9322 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9328 | 0.6406 | 1.08 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.08 | 1.08 | 1.08 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Spain
More social development data for Spain
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 511,079 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 186 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.822 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.843 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.915 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.822 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.572 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.741 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Spain?
- Citizen support for democracy in Spain was 1.08 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Spain?
- The highest recorded value was 1.08 in 2019.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Spain?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5321 in 1988.
- How does Spain rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Spain ranks 13th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Spain?
- Over the last ten years it is up 55.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Spain 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.