Egalitarian Democracy Index in Iran
Iran: Egalitarian Democracy Index was 0.152 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2025)
0.152
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
135th
of 175 countries
All-time high
0.197
in 1999
All-time low
0.014
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Egalitarian Democracy Index in Iran, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, egalitarian democracy index in Iran stood at 0.152.
That represents a change of down 14.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, egalitarian democracy index in Iran peaked at 0.197 in 1999 and was at its lowest, 0.014, in 1900.
That places Iran 135th out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Egalitarian Democracy Index in Iran, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.014 | — |
| 1901 | 0.014 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.014 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.014 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.014 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.014 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.02 | +42.9% |
| 1907 | 0.029 | +45.0% |
| 1908 | 0.029 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.027 | -6.9% |
| 1910 | 0.031 | +14.8% |
| 1911 | 0.031 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.028 | -9.7% |
| 1913 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.028 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.024 | -14.3% |
| 1922 | 0.031 | +29.2% |
| 1923 | 0.03 | -3.2% |
| 1924 | 0.036 | +20.0% |
| 1925 | 0.032 | -11.1% |
| 1926 | 0.03 | -6.3% |
| 1927 | 0.039 | +30.0% |
| 1928 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.039 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 0.061 | +56.4% |
| 1942 | 0.066 | +8.2% |
| 1943 | 0.066 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.072 | +9.1% |
| 1945 | 0.074 | +2.8% |
| 1946 | 0.074 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 0.074 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0.075 | +1.4% |
| 1949 | 0.075 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.103 | +37.3% |
| 1951 | 0.11 | +6.8% |
| 1952 | 0.115 | +4.5% |
| 1953 | 0.089 | -22.6% |
| 1954 | 0.078 | -12.4% |
| 1955 | 0.085 | +9.0% |
| 1956 | 0.079 | -7.1% |
| 1957 | 0.079 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.079 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.079 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.09 | +13.9% |
| 1961 | 0.091 | +1.1% |
| 1962 | 0.091 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.092 | +1.1% |
| 1964 | 0.107 | +16.3% |
| 1965 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.106 | -0.9% |
| 1967 | 0.107 | +0.9% |
| 1968 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.108 | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 0.108 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.108 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.108 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.107 | -0.9% |
| 1976 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.156 | +45.8% |
| 1980 | 0.179 | +14.7% |
| 1981 | 0.167 | -6.7% |
| 1982 | 0.163 | -2.4% |
| 1983 | 0.163 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.16 | -1.8% |
| 1985 | 0.16 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.161 | +0.6% |
| 1987 | 0.177 | +9.9% |
| 1988 | 0.179 | +1.1% |
| 1989 | 0.181 | +1.1% |
| 1990 | 0.167 | -7.7% |
| 1991 | 0.168 | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 0.167 | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 0.168 | +0.6% |
| 1994 | 0.168 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.168 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.171 | +1.8% |
| 1997 | 0.191 | +11.7% |
| 1998 | 0.196 | +2.6% |
| 1999 | 0.197 | +0.5% |
| 2000 | 0.197 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.197 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.196 | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 0.196 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.188 | -4.1% |
| 2005 | 0.181 | -3.7% |
| 2006 | 0.178 | -1.7% |
| 2007 | 0.178 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.177 | -0.6% |
| 2009 | 0.172 | -2.8% |
| 2010 | 0.162 | -5.8% |
| 2011 | 0.162 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.167 | +3.1% |
| 2013 | 0.171 | +2.4% |
| 2014 | 0.175 | +2.3% |
| 2015 | 0.177 | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 0.174 | -1.7% |
| 2017 | 0.165 | -5.2% |
| 2018 | 0.175 | +6.1% |
| 2019 | 0.167 | -4.6% |
| 2020 | 0.159 | -4.8% |
| 2021 | 0.15 | -5.7% |
| 2022 | 0.149 | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 0.154 | +3.4% |
| 2024 | 0.152 | -1.3% |
| 2025 | 0.152 | +0.0% |
Iran compared with similar countries
- Iran's 0.152 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.306, 50% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Iran's 0.152 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 0.152, 1.0× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Egalitarian Democracy Index in Iran changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | +56.4% | 0.039 | 0.061 |
| 1979 | +45.8% | 0.107 | 0.156 |
| 1907 | +45.0% | 0.02 | 0.029 |
| 1906 | +42.9% | 0.014 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | +37.3% | 0.075 | 0.103 |
| 1927 | +30.0% | 0.03 | 0.039 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.0189 | 0.014 | 0.029 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.0286 | 0.028 | 0.031 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.0328 | 0.024 | 0.039 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.039 | 0.039 | 0.039 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.0676 | 0.039 | 0.075 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.0896 | 0.078 | 0.115 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.1005 | 0.09 | 0.107 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.1123 | 0.107 | 0.156 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.169 | 0.16 | 0.181 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.1761 | 0.167 | 0.197 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.186 | 0.172 | 0.197 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.1695 | 0.162 | 0.177 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1527 | 0.149 | 0.159 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iran
- 132 Burkina Faso 0.157 compare
- 132 Democratic Republic of Congo 0.157 compare
- 134 Uzbekistan 0.153 compare
- 136 Guinea 0.149 compare
- 137 Mauritania 0.142 compare
- 138 Uganda 0.139 compare
More social development data for Iran
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 770,514 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 157,912 (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 0.0017 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 157,912 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0083 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is egalitarian democracy index in Iran?
- Egalitarian democracy index in Iran was 0.152 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest egalitarian democracy index recorded in Iran?
- The highest recorded value was 0.197 in 1999.
- What is the lowest egalitarian democracy index recorded in Iran?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.014 in 1900.
- How does Iran rank for egalitarian democracy index?
- Iran ranks 135th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is egalitarian democracy index rising or falling in Iran?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Iran data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Egalitarian Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent of suffrage, the freedom and fairness of elections, freedoms of association and expression, as well as the extent to which the protection of rights, access to power, and distribution of resources is equal.