Statizoid

Distribution of Democracy Index in South Africa

South Africa: Distribution of Democracy Index was 19 in 2018. ▲ Rising

Latest (2018)
19
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
33rd
of 168 countries
All-time high
19
in 1994
All-time low
14
in 1910
Years of data
109
1910–2018

Distribution of Democracy Index in South Africa, 1910–2018

05101520191019642018

Source: Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

The most recent figure for distribution of democracy index in South Africa is 19, measured in 2018. That is the highest value across all 109 years on record.

That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, distribution of democracy index in South Africa peaked at 19 in 1994 and was at its lowest, 14, in 1910.

South Africa ranks 33rd of 168 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 109 years of available data.

Distribution of Democracy Index in South Africa, year by year

Year Value Change
1910 14 —
1911 14 +0.0%
1912 14 +0.0%
1913 14 +0.0%
1914 14 +0.0%
1915 14 +0.0%
1916 14 +0.0%
1917 14 +0.0%
1918 14 +0.0%
1919 14 +0.0%
1920 14 +0.0%
1921 14 +0.0%
1922 14 +0.0%
1923 14 +0.0%
1924 14 +0.0%
1925 14 +0.0%
1926 14 +0.0%
1927 14 +0.0%
1928 14 +0.0%
1929 14 +0.0%
1930 14 +0.0%
1931 14 +0.0%
1932 14 +0.0%
1933 14 +0.0%
1934 14 +0.0%
1935 14 +0.0%
1936 14 +0.0%
1937 14 +0.0%
1938 14 +0.0%
1939 14 +0.0%
1940 14 +0.0%
1941 14 +0.0%
1942 14 +0.0%
1943 14 +0.0%
1944 14 +0.0%
1945 14 +0.0%
1946 14 +0.0%
1947 14 +0.0%
1948 14 +0.0%
1949 14 +0.0%
1950 14 +0.0%
1951 14 +0.0%
1952 14 +0.0%
1953 14 +0.0%
1954 14 +0.0%
1955 14 +0.0%
1956 14 +0.0%
1957 14 +0.0%
1958 14 +0.0%
1959 14 +0.0%
1960 14 +0.0%
1961 14 +0.0%
1962 14 +0.0%
1963 14 +0.0%
1964 14 +0.0%
1965 14 +0.0%
1966 14 +0.0%
1967 14 +0.0%
1968 14 +0.0%
1969 14 +0.0%
1970 14 +0.0%
1971 14 +0.0%
1972 14 +0.0%
1973 14 +0.0%
1974 14 +0.0%
1975 14 +0.0%
1976 14 +0.0%
1977 14 +0.0%
1978 14 +0.0%
1979 14 +0.0%
1980 14 +0.0%
1981 14 +0.0%
1982 14 +0.0%
1983 14 +0.0%
1984 14 +0.0%
1985 14 +0.0%
1986 14 +0.0%
1987 14 +0.0%
1988 14 +0.0%
1989 14 +0.0%
1990 15 +7.1%
1991 15 +0.0%
1992 16 +6.7%
1993 18 +12.5%
1994 19 +5.6%
1995 19 +0.0%
1996 19 +0.0%
1997 19 +0.0%
1998 19 +0.0%
1999 19 +0.0%
2000 19 +0.0%
2001 19 +0.0%
2002 19 +0.0%
2003 19 +0.0%
2004 19 +0.0%
2005 19 +0.0%
2006 19 +0.0%
2007 19 +0.0%
2008 19 +0.0%
2009 19 +0.0%
2010 19 +0.0%
2011 19 +0.0%
2012 19 +0.0%
2013 19 +0.0%
2014 19 +0.0%
2015 19 +0.0%
2016 19 +0.0%
2017 19 +0.0%
2018 19 +0.0%

South Africa compared with similar countries

  • South Africa's 19 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 17, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
  • South Africa's 19 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 14.5, 1.3× the median. (46 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1910s 14 14 14 10
1920s 14 14 14 10
1930s 14 14 14 10
1940s 14 14 14 10
1950s 14 14 14 10
1960s 14 14 14 10
1970s 14 14 14 10
1980s 14 14 14 10
1990s 17.8 15 19 10
2000s 19 19 19 10
2010s 19 19 19 9

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 33 Albania 19 compare
  2. 33 Argentina 19 compare
  3. 33 Bulgaria 19 compare
  4. 33 Croatia 19 compare
  5. 33 Czechia 19 compare
  6. 33 Estonia 19 compare
  7. 33 India 19 compare
  8. 33 Indonesia 19 compare
  9. 33 Jamaica 19 compare
  10. 33 Kenya 19 compare
  11. 33 Moldova 19 compare
  12. 33 Montenegro 19 compare
  13. 33 North Macedonia 19 compare
  14. 33 Panama 19 compare
  15. 33 Paraguay 19 compare
  16. 33 Peru 19 compare
  17. 33 Romania 19 compare
  18. 33 Trinidad and Tobago 19 compare

See the full ranking of 168 places →

More social development data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is distribution of democracy index in South Africa?
Distribution of democracy index in South Africa was 19 in 2018, according to Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest distribution of democracy index recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 19 in 1994.
What is the lowest distribution of democracy index recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 14 in 1910.
How does South Africa rank for distribution of democracy index?
South Africa ranks 33rd out of 168 countries with data for 2018.
Is distribution of democracy index rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Africa 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 — 109 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Distribution of Democracy Index in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 November 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/distribution-democracy-index-polity/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/distribution-democracy-index-polity/south-africa/">Distribution of Democracy Index in South Africa</a> — Statizoid

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).