Citizen support for democracy in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Citizen support for democracy was -0.3361 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Zimbabwe, 1999–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in Zimbabwe is -0.3361, measured in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 22 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 27.5% on the previous year and down 177.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Zimbabwe peaked at 0.5737 in 2011 and was at its lowest, -0.3361, in 2020.
Zimbabwe ranks 76th 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 Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 0.1014 | — |
| 2000 | 0.0417 | -58.9% |
| 2001 | -0.022 | -152.7% |
| 2002 | -0.0355 | +61.8% |
| 2003 | -0.0454 | +27.7% |
| 2004 | -0.0446 | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 0.422 | -1046.2% |
| 2006 | 0.3932 | -6.8% |
| 2007 | 0.3615 | -8.1% |
| 2008 | 0.3265 | -9.7% |
| 2009 | 0.3011 | -7.8% |
| 2010 | 0.4345 | +44.3% |
| 2011 | 0.5737 | +32.0% |
| 2012 | 0.4473 | -22.0% |
| 2013 | 0.2807 | -37.2% |
| 2014 | 0.116 | -58.7% |
| 2015 | 0.0366 | -68.4% |
| 2016 | -0.0464 | -226.7% |
| 2017 | -0.1215 | +161.9% |
| 2018 | -0.1973 | +62.3% |
| 2019 | -0.2635 | +33.6% |
| 2020 | -0.3361 | +27.5% |
Zimbabwe compared with similar countries
- Zimbabwe's -0.3361 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.6191, 54% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Zimbabwe's -0.3361 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 Zimbabwe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +1046.2% | -0.0446 | 0.422 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.1014 | 0.1014 | 0.1014 | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.1698 | -0.0454 | 0.422 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.126 | -0.2635 | 0.5737 | 10 |
| 2020s | -0.3361 | -0.3361 | -0.3361 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More social development data for Zimbabwe
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,570 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 6,632 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 6 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 6 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0004 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 6,632 (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 Zimbabwe?
- Citizen support for democracy in Zimbabwe was -0.3361 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5737 in 2011.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.3361 in 2020.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Zimbabwe ranks 76th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 177.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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 — 22 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.