What is electoral democracy index in Canada?

Electoral democracy index in Canada was 0.84 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest electoral democracy index recorded in Canada?

The highest recorded value was 0.85 in 2019.

What is the lowest electoral democracy index recorded in Canada?

The lowest recorded value was 0.3 in 1861.

How does Canada rank for electoral democracy index?

Canada ranks 16th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is electoral democracy index rising or falling in Canada?

Over the last ten years it is up 4.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Canada data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Electoral Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Electoral Democracy Index in Canada

Name: Electoral Democracy Index in Canada
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Canada: Electoral Democracy Index was 0.84 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.84

Change on year

down 0.1%

World rank

16th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.85

in 2019

All-time low

0.3

in 1861

Years of data

185

1841–2025

Electoral Democracy Index in Canada, 1841–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Canada recorded 0.84 for electoral democracy index in 2025.

The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 4.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, electoral democracy index in Canada peaked at 0.85 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.3, in 1861.

Canada ranks 16th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 185 years of available data.

Electoral Democracy Index in Canada, year by year

Annual values for Electoral Democracy Index in Canada, 1841 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1841	0.309	—
1842	0.309	+0.0%
1843	0.309	+0.0%
1844	0.306	-1.0%
1845	0.307	+0.3%
1846	0.307	+0.0%
1847	0.307	+0.0%
1848	0.303	-1.3%
1849	0.303	+0.0%
1850	0.303	+0.0%
1851	0.303	+0.0%
1852	0.304	+0.3%
1853	0.304	+0.0%
1854	0.303	-0.3%
1855	0.302	-0.3%
1856	0.302	+0.0%
1857	0.302	+0.0%
1858	0.301	-0.3%
1859	0.301	+0.0%
1860	0.301	+0.0%
1861	0.3	-0.3%
1862	0.3	+0.0%
1863	0.3	+0.0%
1864	0.3	+0.0%
1865	0.3	+0.0%
1866	0.3	+0.0%
1867	0.351	+17.0%
1868	0.401	+14.2%
1869	0.401	+0.0%
1870	0.401	+0.0%
1871	0.401	+0.0%
1872	0.402	+0.2%
1873	0.403	+0.2%
1874	0.402	-0.2%
1875	0.401	-0.2%
1876	0.401	+0.0%
1877	0.401	+0.0%
1878	0.431	+7.5%
1879	0.436	+1.2%
1880	0.436	+0.0%
1881	0.436	+0.0%
1882	0.436	+0.0%
1883	0.436	+0.0%
1884	0.436	+0.0%
1885	0.436	+0.0%
1886	0.436	+0.0%
1887	0.449	+3.0%
1888	0.448	-0.2%
1889	0.448	+0.0%
1890	0.448	+0.0%
1891	0.457	+2.0%
1892	0.457	+0.0%
1893	0.457	+0.0%
1894	0.457	+0.0%
1895	0.457	+0.0%
1896	0.478	+4.6%
1897	0.478	+0.0%
1898	0.478	+0.0%
1899	0.478	+0.0%
1900	0.471	-1.5%
1901	0.481	+2.1%
1902	0.481	+0.0%
1903	0.481	+0.0%
1904	0.481	+0.0%
1905	0.479	-0.4%
1906	0.479	+0.0%
1907	0.479	+0.0%
1908	0.479	+0.0%
1909	0.482	+0.6%
1910	0.482	+0.0%
1911	0.482	+0.0%
1912	0.481	-0.2%
1913	0.481	+0.0%
1914	0.472	-1.9%
1915	0.466	-1.3%
1916	0.466	+0.0%
1917	0.465	-0.2%
1918	0.431	-7.3%
1919	0.442	+2.6%
1920	0.463	+4.8%
1921	0.587	+26.8%
1922	0.654	+11.4%
1923	0.654	+0.0%
1924	0.654	+0.0%
1925	0.667	+2.0%
1926	0.667	+0.0%
1927	0.667	+0.0%
1928	0.667	+0.0%
1929	0.671	+0.6%
1930	0.663	-1.2%
1931	0.651	-1.8%
1932	0.651	+0.0%
1933	0.651	+0.0%
1934	0.651	+0.0%
1935	0.662	+1.7%
1936	0.677	+2.3%
1937	0.677	+0.0%
1938	0.694	+2.5%
1939	0.681	-1.9%
1940	0.662	-2.8%
1941	0.655	-1.1%
1942	0.655	+0.0%
1943	0.655	+0.0%
1944	0.652	-0.5%
1945	0.652	+0.0%
1946	0.711	+9.0%
1947	0.711	+0.0%
1948	0.711	+0.0%
1949	0.716	+0.7%
1950	0.744	+3.9%
1951	0.744	+0.0%
1952	0.744	+0.0%
1953	0.748	+0.5%
1954	0.754	+0.8%
1955	0.754	+0.0%
1956	0.754	+0.0%
1957	0.754	+0.0%
1958	0.754	+0.0%
1959	0.754	+0.0%
1960	0.776	+2.9%
1961	0.8	+3.1%
1962	0.81	+1.3%
1963	0.816	+0.7%
1964	0.816	+0.0%
1965	0.816	+0.0%
1966	0.817	+0.1%
1967	0.817	+0.0%
1968	0.814	-0.4%
1969	0.812	-0.2%
1970	0.82	+1.0%
1971	0.827	+0.9%
1972	0.828	+0.1%
1973	0.832	+0.5%
1974	0.823	-1.1%
1975	0.823	+0.0%
1976	0.823	+0.0%
1977	0.823	+0.0%
1978	0.823	+0.0%
1979	0.828	+0.6%
1980	0.829	+0.1%
1981	0.829	+0.0%
1982	0.828	-0.1%
1983	0.828	+0.0%
1984	0.834	+0.7%
1985	0.835	+0.1%
1986	0.835	+0.0%
1987	0.835	+0.0%
1988	0.835	+0.0%
1989	0.833	-0.2%
1990	0.833	+0.0%
1991	0.833	+0.0%
1992	0.831	-0.2%
1993	0.832	+0.1%
1994	0.842	+1.2%
1995	0.842	+0.0%
1996	0.846	+0.5%
1997	0.84	-0.7%
1998	0.836	-0.5%
1999	0.836	+0.0%
2000	0.836	+0.0%
2001	0.832	-0.5%
2002	0.825	-0.8%
2003	0.825	+0.0%
2004	0.825	+0.0%
2005	0.824	-0.1%
2006	0.83	+0.7%
2007	0.832	+0.2%
2008	0.827	-0.6%
2009	0.826	-0.1%
2010	0.826	+0.0%
2011	0.811	-1.8%
2012	0.81	-0.1%
2013	0.817	+0.9%
2014	0.814	-0.4%
2015	0.807	-0.9%
2016	0.834	+3.3%
2017	0.839	+0.6%
2018	0.84	+0.1%
2019	0.85	+1.2%
2020	0.849	-0.1%
2021	0.843	-0.7%
2022	0.848	+0.6%
2023	0.847	-0.1%
2024	0.841	-0.7%
2025	0.84	-0.1%

Canada compared with similar countries

Canada's 0.84 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.786, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Electoral Democracy Index in Canada 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
1921	+26.8%	0.463	0.587

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1840s	0.3067	0.303	0.309	9
1850s	0.3025	0.301	0.304	10
1860s	0.3254	0.3	0.401	10
1870s	0.4079	0.401	0.436	10
1880s	0.4397	0.436	0.449	10
1890s	0.4645	0.448	0.478	10
1900s	0.4793	0.471	0.482	10
1910s	0.4668	0.431	0.482	10
1920s	0.6351	0.463	0.671	10
1930s	0.6658	0.651	0.694	10
1940s	0.678	0.652	0.716	10
1950s	0.7504	0.744	0.754	10
1960s	0.8094	0.776	0.817	10
1970s	0.825	0.82	0.832	10
1980s	0.8321	0.828	0.835	10
1990s	0.8371	0.831	0.846	10
2000s	0.8282	0.824	0.836	10
2010s	0.8248	0.807	0.85	10
2020s	0.8447	0.84	0.849	6

Countries ranked near Canada

13 Czechia 0.849 compare
13 New Zealand 0.849 compare
15 Australia 0.844 compare
17 Austria 0.839 compare
17 Chile 0.839 compare
19 Latvia 0.834 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Canada

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 416,028 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 360 (2025)
Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 360 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.01 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)

All data for Canada →

Frequently asked questions

What is electoral democracy index in Canada?: Electoral democracy index in Canada was 0.84 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest electoral democracy index recorded in Canada?: The highest recorded value was 0.85 in 2019.
What is the lowest electoral democracy index recorded in Canada?: The lowest recorded value was 0.3 in 1861.
How does Canada rank for electoral democracy index?: Canada ranks 16th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is electoral democracy index rising or falling in Canada?: Over the last ten years it is up 4.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Canada data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Electoral Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Electoral Democracy Index in Canada. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/electoral-democracy-index/canada/

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About this data

Indicator: Electoral Democracy Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 29,649 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which political leaders are elected under comprehensive suffrage in free and fair elections, and freedoms of association and expression are guaranteed.