Statizoid

Distribution of Democracy Index by country

It combines information on the extent to which open, multi-party, and competitive elections choose a chief executive who faces comprehensive institutional constraints, and political participation is competitive. It ranges from 0 to 20 (fully democratic).

Countries reporting
165
Highest
20
Australia
Lowest
0
Saudi Arabia
Median
17
Years covered
219
1800–2018
Data points
18,366

What the numbers show

Distribution of Democracy Index is currently reported for 165 countries. The highest value is 20 in Australia; the lowest is 0 in Saudi Arabia.

The median across all reporting countries is 17, and the mean is 13.91.

Over the past decade 40 countries rose and 21 fell. The largest increase was in Myanmar (up 350.0%), and the largest decrease in Bahrain (down 100.0%).

Distribution of Democracy Index: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Australia 20 2018 unchanged flat
1 Austria 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Canada 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Switzerland 20 2018 unchanged flat
1 Chile 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Cape Verde 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Costa Rica 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Cyprus 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Germany 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Denmark 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Spain 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Finland 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 France 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Greece 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Hungary 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Italy 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Japan 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Lithuania 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Mongolia 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Mauritius 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Netherlands 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Norway 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 New Zealand 20 2018 unchanged flat
1 Poland 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Portugal 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Slovakia 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Slovenia 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Sweden 20 2018 unchanged volatile
1 Uruguay 20 2018 unchanged rising
1 Taiwan 20 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Albania 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Argentina 19 2018 up 5.6% volatile
33 Bulgaria 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Czechia 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Estonia 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Croatia 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Indonesia 19 2018 up 5.6% volatile
33 India 19 2018 unchanged rising
33 Jamaica 19 2018 unchanged falling
33 Kenya 19 2018 up 11.8% volatile
33 Moldova 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 North Macedonia 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Montenegro 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Panama 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Peru 19 2018 unchanged rising
33 Paraguay 19 2018 up 5.6% volatile
33 Romania 19 2018 unchanged volatile
33 Trinidad and Tobago 19 2018 unchanged rising
33 South Africa 19 2018 unchanged rising
52 Belgium 18 2018 unchanged rising
52 Brazil 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 Botswana 18 2018 unchanged rising
52 United Kingdom 18 2018 down 10.0% rising
52 Ghana 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 Guatemala 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 Kyrgyzstan 18 2018 up 38.5% volatile
52 South Korea 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 Lesotho 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 Latvia 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 Mexico 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 Myanmar 18 2018 up 350.0% volatile
52 Philippines 18 2018 unchanged rising
52 Solomon Islands 18 2018 unchanged flat
52 El Salvador 18 2018 up 5.9% volatile
52 Serbia 18 2018 unchanged volatile
52 East Timor 18 2018 up 5.9% rising
52 United States 18 2018 down 10.0% rising
70 Armenia 17 2018 up 13.3% volatile
70 Benin 17 2018 unchanged volatile
70 Bolivia 17 2018 down 5.6% rising
70 Bhutan 17 2018 up 30.8% volatile
70 Colombia 17 2018 unchanged rising
70 Dominican Republic 17 2018 down 5.6% volatile
70 Georgia 17 2018 up 6.2% volatile
70 Guyana 17 2018 up 6.2% rising
70 Honduras 17 2018 unchanged rising
70 Liberia 17 2018 up 6.2% volatile
70 Malaysia 17 2018 up 6.2% falling
70 Nigeria 17 2018 up 21.4% volatile
70 Nepal 17 2018 up 6.2% volatile
70 Pakistan 17 2018 up 13.3% volatile
70 Senegal 17 2018 unchanged volatile
70 Sierra Leone 17 2018 unchanged volatile
70 Tunisia 17 2018 up 183.3% volatile
87 Burkina Faso 16 2018 up 60.0% volatile
87 Central African Republic 16 2018 up 77.8% volatile
87 Guinea-Bissau 16 2018 unchanged volatile
87 Iraq 16 2018 up 23.1% volatile
87 Israel 16 2018 unchanged falling
87 Lebanon 16 2018 unchanged rising
87 Sri Lanka 16 2018 unchanged falling
87 Madagascar 16 2018 down 5.9% rising
87 Malawi 16 2018 unchanged volatile
87 Namibia 16 2018 unchanged flat
87 Nicaragua 16 2018 down 15.8% volatile
87 Zambia 16 2018 down 5.9% volatile
99 Ecuador 15 2018 unchanged rising
99 Haiti 15 2018 unchanged rising
99 Mali 15 2018 down 11.8% volatile
99 Mozambique 15 2018 unchanged volatile
99 Niger 15 2018 down 6.2% volatile
99 Papua New Guinea 15 2018 up 7.1% rising
99 Somalia 15 2018 up 50.0% volatile
99 Suriname 15 2018 unchanged rising
107 Cote d'Ivoire 14 2018 up 40.0% volatile
107 Guinea 14 2018 up 55.6% volatile
107 Gambia 14 2018 up 180.0% volatile
107 Russia 14 2018 unchanged volatile
107 Ukraine 14 2018 down 17.6% volatile
107 Zimbabwe 14 2018 up 133.3% rising
113 Djibouti 13 2018 up 8.3% volatile
113 Gabon 13 2018 up 116.7% volatile
113 Tanzania 13 2018 up 44.4% rising
116 Algeria 12 2018 unchanged volatile
116 Fiji 12 2018 up 100.0% falling
118 Ethiopia 11 2018 up 57.1% falling
119 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 1994 up 100.0% volatile
119 Libya 10 2018 up 233.3% volatile
119 South Sudan 10 2018 unchanged flat
119 Yemen 10 2018 up 25.0% rising
123 Afghanistan 9 2018 — volatile
123 Burundi 9 2018 down 43.8% volatile
123 Chad 9 2018 unchanged rising
123 Uganda 9 2018 unchanged volatile
127 Angola 8 2018 unchanged rising
127 Mauritania 8 2018 up 60.0% rising
127 Singapore 8 2018 unchanged rising
127 Togo 8 2018 up 33.3% rising
131 Democratic Republic of Congo 7 2018 down 53.3% volatile
131 Comoros 7 2018 down 63.2% volatile
131 Jordan 7 2018 unchanged volatile
131 Rwanda 7 2018 unchanged rising
131 Thailand 7 2018 down 50.0% volatile
131 Tajikistan 7 2018 unchanged volatile
131 Venezuela 7 2018 down 53.3% volatile
138 Congo 6 2018 unchanged volatile
138 Egypt 6 2018 down 14.3% volatile
138 Cambodia 6 2018 down 50.0% volatile
138 Morocco 6 2018 up 50.0% falling
138 Sudan 6 2018 unchanged flat
138 Turkey 6 2018 down 64.7% volatile
144 Cameroon 5 2018 unchanged volatile
144 Cuba 5 2018 up 66.7% volatile
146 Bangladesh 4 2018 unchanged volatile
146 Equatorial Guinea 4 2018 unchanged rising
146 Kazakhstan 4 2018 unchanged volatile
149 Azerbaijan 3 2018 unchanged volatile
149 Belarus 3 2018 unchanged volatile
149 China 3 2018 unchanged falling
149 Eritrea 3 2018 unchanged falling
149 Iran 3 2018 down 25.0% volatile
149 Kuwait 3 2018 unchanged volatile
149 Laos 3 2018 unchanged volatile
149 Eswatini 3 2018 unchanged volatile
149 Vietnam 3 2018 unchanged flat
158 United Arab Emirates 2 2018 unchanged flat
158 Oman 2 2018 unchanged volatile
158 Turkmenistan 2 2018 up 100.0% volatile
161 Syria 1 2018 down 75.0% volatile
161 Uzbekistan 1 2018 unchanged volatile
161 Vatican 1 1870 unchanged flat
164 Bahrain 0 2018 down 100.0% volatile
164 North Korea 0 2018 — volatile
164 Qatar 0 2018 — flat
164 Saudi Arabia 0 2018 — flat

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
Distribution of Democracy Index
Source
Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
168 places, 18,366 data points, 1800–2018
Last refreshed

It combines information on the extent to which open, multi-party, and competitive elections choose a chief executive who faces comprehensive institutional constraints, and political participation is competitive. It ranges from 0 to 20 (fully democratic).