Electoral democracy in South Korea
South Korea: Electoral democracy was 1 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 198 countries
All-time high
1
in 1960
All-time low
0
in 1948
Years of data
78
1948–2025
Electoral democracy in South Korea, 1948–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, electoral democracy in South Korea stood at 1. That is the highest value across all 78 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, electoral democracy in South Korea peaked at 1 in 1960 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1948.
South Korea ranks 1st of 198 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Electoral democracy in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 0 | — |
| 1949 | 0 | — |
| 1950 | 0 | — |
| 1951 | 0 | — |
| 1952 | 0 | — |
| 1953 | 0 | — |
| 1954 | 0 | — |
| 1955 | 0 | — |
| 1956 | 0 | — |
| 1957 | 0 | — |
| 1958 | 0 | — |
| 1959 | 0 | — |
| 1960 | 1 | — |
| 1961 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1962 | 0 | — |
| 1963 | 0 | — |
| 1964 | 0 | — |
| 1965 | 0 | — |
| 1966 | 0 | — |
| 1967 | 0 | — |
| 1968 | 0 | — |
| 1969 | 0 | — |
| 1970 | 0 | — |
| 1971 | 0 | — |
| 1972 | 0 | — |
| 1973 | 0 | — |
| 1974 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | 0 | — |
| 1978 | 0 | — |
| 1979 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | 0 | — |
| 1981 | 0 | — |
| 1982 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | 0 | — |
| 1984 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | 0 | — |
| 1987 | 0 | — |
| 1988 | 1 | — |
| 1989 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 1 | +0.0% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 1 is above the median for high income countries, which is 1, 1.0× the median. (64 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 1 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1, 1.0× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1950s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.2 | 0 | 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 South Korea
- 1 Albania 1 compare
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- 1 Brazil 1 compare
- 1 Bulgaria 1 compare
- 1 Canada 1 compare
- 1 Cape Verde 1 compare
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- 1 Croatia 1 compare
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- 1 Luxembourg 1 compare
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- 1 Suriname 1 compare
- 1 Sweden 1 compare
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More social development data for South Korea
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 4,407 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 117 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (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 117 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 3.91 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is electoral democracy in South Korea?
- Electoral democracy in South Korea was 1 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest electoral democracy recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1960.
- What is the lowest electoral democracy recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1948.
- How does South Korea rank for electoral democracy?
- South Korea ranks 1st out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is electoral democracy rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this South Korea 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 78 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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).