Egalitarian Democracy Index in Jamaica
Jamaica: Egalitarian Democracy Index was 0.658 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2025)
0.658
Change on year
up 1.2%
World rank
31st
of 175 countries
All-time high
0.664
in 2023
All-time low
0.077
in 1920
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Egalitarian Democracy Index in Jamaica, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Jamaica recorded 0.658 for egalitarian democracy index in 2025.
That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and up 8.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, egalitarian democracy index in Jamaica peaked at 0.664 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.077, in 1920.
That places Jamaica 31st out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Egalitarian Democracy Index in Jamaica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.078 | — |
| 1901 | 0.079 | +1.3% |
| 1902 | 0.079 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.079 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.079 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.079 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.078 | -1.3% |
| 1907 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.079 | +1.3% |
| 1920 | 0.077 | -2.5% |
| 1921 | 0.077 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.077 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.077 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.077 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.078 | +1.3% |
| 1926 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.078 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.082 | +5.1% |
| 1931 | 0.081 | -1.2% |
| 1932 | 0.081 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.081 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.081 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.082 | +1.2% |
| 1936 | 0.082 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.082 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.115 | +40.2% |
| 1939 | 0.116 | +0.9% |
| 1940 | 0.114 | -1.7% |
| 1941 | 0.114 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.114 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.114 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.16 | +40.4% |
| 1945 | 0.173 | +8.1% |
| 1946 | 0.173 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 0.179 | +3.5% |
| 1948 | 0.178 | -0.6% |
| 1949 | 0.182 | +2.2% |
| 1950 | 0.18 | -1.1% |
| 1951 | 0.18 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.181 | +0.6% |
| 1953 | 0.232 | +28.2% |
| 1954 | 0.258 | +11.2% |
| 1955 | 0.262 | +1.6% |
| 1956 | 0.276 | +5.3% |
| 1957 | 0.276 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.276 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.27 | -2.2% |
| 1960 | 0.289 | +7.0% |
| 1961 | 0.289 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.336 | +16.3% |
| 1963 | 0.347 | +3.3% |
| 1964 | 0.347 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.342 | -1.4% |
| 1966 | 0.342 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 0.328 | -4.1% |
| 1968 | 0.325 | -0.9% |
| 1969 | 0.328 | +0.9% |
| 1970 | 0.335 | +2.1% |
| 1971 | 0.335 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.35 | +4.5% |
| 1973 | 0.402 | +14.9% |
| 1974 | 0.4 | -0.5% |
| 1975 | 0.4 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.39 | -2.5% |
| 1977 | 0.361 | -7.4% |
| 1978 | 0.359 | -0.6% |
| 1979 | 0.365 | +1.7% |
| 1980 | 0.383 | +4.9% |
| 1981 | 0.371 | -3.1% |
| 1982 | 0.371 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.373 | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 0.408 | +9.4% |
| 1985 | 0.409 | +0.2% |
| 1986 | 0.409 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.409 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.409 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.424 | +3.7% |
| 1990 | 0.434 | +2.4% |
| 1991 | 0.434 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.434 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.455 | +4.8% |
| 1994 | 0.467 | +2.6% |
| 1995 | 0.47 | +0.6% |
| 1996 | 0.472 | +0.4% |
| 1997 | 0.479 | +1.5% |
| 1998 | 0.503 | +5.0% |
| 1999 | 0.503 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.504 | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 0.504 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.521 | +3.4% |
| 2003 | 0.561 | +7.7% |
| 2004 | 0.561 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.565 | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 0.573 | +1.4% |
| 2007 | 0.58 | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 0.588 | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 0.588 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.587 | -0.2% |
| 2011 | 0.583 | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 0.595 | +2.1% |
| 2013 | 0.601 | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 0.604 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 0.606 | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 0.611 | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 0.633 | +3.6% |
| 2018 | 0.623 | -1.6% |
| 2019 | 0.645 | +3.5% |
| 2020 | 0.653 | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 0.655 | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 0.65 | -0.8% |
| 2023 | 0.664 | +2.2% |
| 2024 | 0.65 | -2.1% |
| 2025 | 0.658 | +1.2% |
Jamaica compared with similar countries
- Jamaica's 0.658 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.306, 2.2× the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Jamaica's 0.658 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.394, 1.7× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Egalitarian Democracy Index in Jamaica 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | +40.4% | 0.114 | 0.16 |
| 1938 | +40.2% | 0.082 | 0.115 |
| 1953 | +28.2% | 0.181 | 0.232 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.0785 | 0.078 | 0.079 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.0781 | 0.078 | 0.079 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.0775 | 0.077 | 0.078 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.0883 | 0.081 | 0.116 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.1501 | 0.114 | 0.182 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.2391 | 0.18 | 0.276 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.3273 | 0.289 | 0.347 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.3697 | 0.335 | 0.402 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3966 | 0.371 | 0.424 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4651 | 0.434 | 0.503 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5545 | 0.504 | 0.588 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.6088 | 0.583 | 0.645 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.655 | 0.65 | 0.664 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Jamaica
More social development data for Jamaica
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 31 (2022)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,642 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (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 0.0009 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 2,642 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2022)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is egalitarian democracy index in Jamaica?
- Egalitarian democracy index in Jamaica was 0.658 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest egalitarian democracy index recorded in Jamaica?
- The highest recorded value was 0.664 in 2023.
- What is the lowest egalitarian democracy index recorded in Jamaica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.077 in 1920.
- How does Jamaica rank for egalitarian democracy index?
- Jamaica ranks 31st out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is egalitarian democracy index rising or falling in Jamaica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Jamaica 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.