Citizen support for democracy in Sweden
Sweden: Citizen support for democracy was 2.13 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Citizen support for democracy in Sweden, 1996–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen support for democracy in Sweden stood at 2.13.
That represents a change of up 76.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Sweden peaked at 2.13 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 1.12, in 2009.
Sweden ranks 4th of 144 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.63 | 1.56 | 1.66 | 4 |
| 2000s | 1.62 | 1.12 | 1.8 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.75 | 1.21 | 2.13 | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.13 | 2.13 | 2.13 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Sweden
More social development data for Sweden
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 144,116 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 128 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.889 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.946 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.931 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.889 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.635 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.853 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Sweden?
- Citizen support for democracy in Sweden was 2.13 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Sweden?
- The highest recorded value was 2.13 in 2017.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Sweden?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.12 in 2009.
- How does Sweden rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Sweden ranks 4th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Sweden?
- Over the last ten years it is up 76.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sweden 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.