Deliberative Democracy Index in Iceland
Iceland: Deliberative Democracy Index was 0.703 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Deliberative Democracy Index in Iceland, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, deliberative democracy index in Iceland stood at 0.703.
The figure is down 7.4% on the previous year and up 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, deliberative democracy index in Iceland peaked at 0.794 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.258, in 1902.
That places Iceland 22nd out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Deliberative Democracy Index in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.259 | — |
| 1901 | 0.259 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.258 | -0.4% |
| 1903 | 0.258 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.346 | +34.1% |
| 1905 | 0.372 | +7.5% |
| 1906 | 0.372 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.372 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.373 | +0.3% |
| 1909 | 0.373 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 0.373 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 0.373 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.371 | -0.5% |
| 1913 | 0.371 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.371 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.372 | +0.3% |
| 1916 | 0.523 | +40.6% |
| 1917 | 0.522 | -0.2% |
| 1918 | 0.522 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.522 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.537 | +2.9% |
| 1921 | 0.544 | +1.3% |
| 1922 | 0.544 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.544 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.544 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.544 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.544 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.547 | +0.6% |
| 1928 | 0.55 | +0.5% |
| 1929 | 0.55 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.547 | -0.5% |
| 1931 | 0.548 | +0.2% |
| 1932 | 0.548 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.546 | -0.4% |
| 1934 | 0.544 | -0.4% |
| 1935 | 0.56 | +2.9% |
| 1936 | 0.56 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.563 | +0.5% |
| 1938 | 0.565 | +0.4% |
| 1939 | 0.565 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.573 | +1.4% |
| 1941 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.577 | +0.7% |
| 1943 | 0.581 | +0.7% |
| 1944 | 0.625 | +7.6% |
| 1945 | 0.624 | -0.2% |
| 1946 | 0.63 | +1.0% |
| 1947 | 0.629 | -0.2% |
| 1948 | 0.629 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.63 | +0.2% |
| 1950 | 0.65 | +3.2% |
| 1951 | 0.65 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.651 | +0.2% |
| 1953 | 0.653 | +0.3% |
| 1954 | 0.654 | +0.2% |
| 1955 | 0.654 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 0.655 | +0.2% |
| 1957 | 0.656 | +0.2% |
| 1958 | 0.656 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.656 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.655 | -0.2% |
| 1961 | 0.655 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.655 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.655 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.655 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.655 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.665 | +1.5% |
| 1967 | 0.67 | +0.8% |
| 1968 | 0.658 | -1.8% |
| 1969 | 0.657 | -0.2% |
| 1970 | 0.656 | -0.2% |
| 1971 | 0.658 | +0.3% |
| 1972 | 0.658 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.658 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.658 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.658 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.658 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.658 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.659 | +0.2% |
| 1979 | 0.659 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0.678 | +2.9% |
| 1981 | 0.678 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.686 | +1.2% |
| 1983 | 0.691 | +0.7% |
| 1984 | 0.69 | -0.1% |
| 1985 | 0.69 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.699 | +1.3% |
| 1987 | 0.705 | +0.9% |
| 1988 | 0.706 | +0.1% |
| 1989 | 0.707 | +0.1% |
| 1990 | 0.735 | +4.0% |
| 1991 | 0.735 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.736 | +0.1% |
| 1993 | 0.736 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.736 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.736 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.742 | +0.8% |
| 1997 | 0.742 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.742 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.742 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.741 | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 0.741 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.741 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.741 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.741 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.74 | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 0.735 | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 0.736 | +0.1% |
| 2008 | 0.752 | +2.2% |
| 2009 | 0.768 | +2.1% |
| 2010 | 0.766 | -0.3% |
| 2011 | 0.774 | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 0.77 | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 0.709 | -7.9% |
| 2014 | 0.703 | -0.8% |
| 2015 | 0.693 | -1.4% |
| 2016 | 0.735 | +6.1% |
| 2017 | 0.755 | +2.7% |
| 2018 | 0.765 | +1.3% |
| 2019 | 0.784 | +2.5% |
| 2020 | 0.794 | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 0.754 | -5.0% |
| 2022 | 0.751 | -0.4% |
| 2023 | 0.757 | +0.8% |
| 2024 | 0.759 | +0.3% |
| 2025 | 0.703 | -7.4% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 0.703 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.665, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 0.703 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.61, 1.2× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Deliberative Democracy Index in Iceland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | +40.6% | 0.372 | 0.523 |
| 1904 | +34.1% | 0.258 | 0.346 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.3242 | 0.258 | 0.373 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.432 | 0.371 | 0.523 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.5448 | 0.537 | 0.55 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.5546 | 0.544 | 0.565 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.6071 | 0.573 | 0.63 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.6535 | 0.65 | 0.656 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.658 | 0.655 | 0.67 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.658 | 0.656 | 0.659 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.693 | 0.678 | 0.707 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.7382 | 0.735 | 0.742 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.7436 | 0.735 | 0.768 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7454 | 0.693 | 0.784 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.753 | 0.703 | 0.794 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More social development data for Iceland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,459 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0216 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 deliberative democracy index in Iceland?
- Deliberative democracy index in Iceland was 0.703 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest deliberative democracy index recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.794 in 2020.
- What is the lowest deliberative democracy index recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.258 in 1902.
- How does Iceland rank for deliberative democracy index?
- Iceland ranks 22nd out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is deliberative democracy index rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Deliberative Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent of suffrage, the freedom and fairness of elections, freedoms of association and expression, as well as the extent to which political elites justify their positions, justify them with the common good, acknowledge counterarguments, consult elites in policy changes, and society deliberates policy changes.