Electoral democracy in Ireland
Ireland: Electoral democracy was 1 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Electoral democracy in Ireland, 1918–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 1 for electoral democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 108 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, electoral democracy in Ireland peaked at 1 in 1921 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1918.
That places Ireland 1st out of 197 regions with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 108 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1920s | 0.9 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
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More social development data for Ireland
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 137,869 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 69 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.887 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.97 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.912 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.887 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.619 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.822 (2025)
- Varieties of democracy 0.887 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is electoral democracy in Ireland?
- Electoral democracy in Ireland was 1 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest electoral democracy recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1921.
- What is the lowest electoral democracy recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1918.
- How does Ireland rank for electoral democracy?
- Ireland ranks 1st out of 197 regions with data for 2025.
- Is electoral democracy rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Electoral democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country using the reduced Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies, one-party autocracies, multi-party autocracies without elected executive, multi-party autocracies, exclusive democracies, male democracies, and electoral democracies (including full democracies or polyarchies).