Distribution of Democracy Index in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Distribution of Democracy Index was 9 in 2018. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2018)
9
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
124th
of 168 countries
All-time high
10
in 1978
All-time low
0
in 1945
Years of data
196
1800–2018
Distribution of Democracy Index in Afghanistan, 1800–2018
Source: Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2018, distribution of democracy index in Afghanistan stood at 9.
That represents a change of unchanged over five years.
Over the whole period, distribution of democracy index in Afghanistan peaked at 10 in 1978 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1945.
Afghanistan ranks 124th of 168 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.
Distribution of Democracy Index in Afghanistan, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 4 | — |
| 1801 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1802 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1803 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1804 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1805 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1806 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1807 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1808 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1809 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1810 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1811 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1812 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1813 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1814 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1815 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1816 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1817 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1818 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1819 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1820 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1821 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1822 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1823 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1824 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1825 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1826 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1827 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1828 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1829 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1830 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1831 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1832 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1833 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1834 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1835 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1836 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1837 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1838 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1839 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1840 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1841 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1842 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1843 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1844 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1845 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1846 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1847 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1848 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1849 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1850 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1851 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1852 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1853 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1854 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1855 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1856 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1857 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1858 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1859 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1860 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1861 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1862 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1863 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1864 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1865 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1866 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1867 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1868 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1869 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1870 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1871 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1872 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1873 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1874 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1875 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1876 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1877 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1878 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1879 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1880 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1881 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1882 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1883 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1884 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1885 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1886 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1887 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1888 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1889 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1890 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1891 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1892 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1893 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1894 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1895 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1896 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1897 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1898 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1899 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1900 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1901 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 2 | -50.0% |
| 1936 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1946 | 0 | — |
| 1947 | 0 | — |
| 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 | 0 | — |
| 1961 | 0 | — |
| 1962 | 0 | — |
| 1963 | 0 | — |
| 1964 | 3 | — |
| 1965 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 10 | +233.3% |
| 1989 | 2 | -80.0% |
| 1990 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 10 | +400.0% |
| 1993 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 10 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 3 | -70.0% |
| 1997 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 9 | +200.0% |
| 2015 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 9 | +0.0% |
Afghanistan compared with similar countries
- Afghanistan's 9 is below the median for low income countries, which is 11, 82% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Afghanistan's 9 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 7, 1.3× the median. (21 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1800s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1810s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1820s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1830s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1840s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1850s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1860s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1870s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1880s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1890s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1900s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1910s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1920s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1930s | 3 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 1940s | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.8 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1970s | 3.78 | 3 | 10 | 9 |
| 1980s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 1990s | 5.6 | 2 | 10 | 10 |
| 2000s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 2010s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 5 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
More social development data for Afghanistan
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 20,869 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2.67 million (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0609 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2.67 million (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 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is distribution of democracy index in Afghanistan?
- Distribution of democracy index in Afghanistan was 9 in 2018, according to Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest distribution of democracy index recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 10 in 1978.
- What is the lowest distribution of democracy index recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1945.
- How does Afghanistan rank for distribution of democracy index?
- Afghanistan ranks 124th out of 168 countries with data for 2018.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Distribution of Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 196 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
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).