Electoral Democracy Index in Iceland

Iceland: Electoral Democracy Index was 0.807 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.807
Change on year
down 4.2%
World rank
26th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.882
in 2009
All-time low
0.346
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Electoral Democracy Index in Iceland, 1900–2025

00.20.40.60.8190019622025

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

Analysis

Iceland recorded 0.807 for electoral democracy index in 2025.

That represents a change of down 4.2% on the previous year and down 6.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, electoral democracy index in Iceland peaked at 0.882 in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.346, in 1900.

Iceland ranks 26th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.

Electoral Democracy Index in Iceland, year by year

Annual values for Electoral Democracy Index in Iceland, 1900 to 2025.
Year Value Change
1900 0.346
1901 0.346 +0.0%
1902 0.346 +0.0%
1903 0.346 +0.0%
1904 0.51 +47.4%
1905 0.554 +8.6%
1906 0.554 +0.0%
1907 0.554 +0.0%
1908 0.554 +0.0%
1909 0.553 -0.2%
1910 0.553 +0.0%
1911 0.553 +0.0%
1912 0.551 -0.4%
1913 0.551 +0.0%
1914 0.553 +0.4%
1915 0.553 +0.0%
1916 0.774 +40.0%
1917 0.775 +0.1%
1918 0.775 +0.0%
1919 0.774 -0.1%
1920 0.77 -0.5%
1921 0.77 +0.0%
1922 0.77 +0.0%
1923 0.77 +0.0%
1924 0.771 +0.1%
1925 0.771 +0.0%
1926 0.771 +0.0%
1927 0.774 +0.4%
1928 0.776 +0.3%
1929 0.776 +0.0%
1930 0.772 -0.5%
1931 0.771 -0.1%
1932 0.77 -0.1%
1933 0.769 -0.1%
1934 0.768 -0.1%
1935 0.788 +2.6%
1936 0.788 +0.0%
1937 0.789 +0.1%
1938 0.789 +0.0%
1939 0.789 +0.0%
1940 0.771 -2.3%
1941 0.771 +0.0%
1942 0.774 +0.4%
1943 0.776 +0.3%
1944 0.784 +1.0%
1945 0.789 +0.6%
1946 0.797 +1.0%
1947 0.795 -0.3%
1948 0.795 +0.0%
1949 0.795 +0.0%
1950 0.798 +0.4%
1951 0.798 +0.0%
1952 0.802 +0.5%
1953 0.806 +0.5%
1954 0.807 +0.1%
1955 0.807 +0.0%
1956 0.807 +0.0%
1957 0.808 +0.1%
1958 0.808 +0.0%
1959 0.808 +0.0%
1960 0.809 +0.1%
1961 0.809 +0.0%
1962 0.809 +0.0%
1963 0.808 -0.1%
1964 0.807 -0.1%
1965 0.807 +0.0%
1966 0.818 +1.4%
1967 0.824 +0.7%
1968 0.824 +0.0%
1969 0.823 -0.1%
1970 0.823 +0.0%
1971 0.825 +0.2%
1972 0.826 +0.1%
1973 0.826 +0.0%
1974 0.826 +0.0%
1975 0.825 -0.1%
1976 0.825 +0.0%
1977 0.825 +0.0%
1978 0.826 +0.1%
1979 0.827 +0.1%
1980 0.849 +2.7%
1981 0.849 +0.0%
1982 0.849 +0.0%
1983 0.845 -0.5%
1984 0.843 -0.2%
1985 0.843 +0.0%
1986 0.852 +1.1%
1987 0.859 +0.8%
1988 0.859 +0.0%
1989 0.859 +0.0%
1990 0.862 +0.3%
1991 0.862 +0.0%
1992 0.862 +0.0%
1993 0.862 +0.0%
1994 0.862 +0.0%
1995 0.862 +0.0%
1996 0.869 +0.8%
1997 0.868 -0.1%
1998 0.868 +0.0%
1999 0.868 +0.0%
2000 0.868 +0.0%
2001 0.868 +0.0%
2002 0.868 +0.0%
2003 0.867 -0.1%
2004 0.867 +0.0%
2005 0.865 -0.2%
2006 0.865 +0.0%
2007 0.873 +0.9%
2008 0.88 +0.8%
2009 0.882 +0.2%
2010 0.881 -0.1%
2011 0.881 +0.0%
2012 0.875 -0.7%
2013 0.858 -1.9%
2014 0.856 -0.2%
2015 0.861 +0.6%
2016 0.86 -0.1%
2017 0.861 +0.1%
2018 0.875 +1.6%
2019 0.859 -1.8%
2020 0.859 +0.0%
2021 0.836 -2.7%
2022 0.832 -0.5%
2023 0.841 +1.1%
2024 0.842 +0.1%
2025 0.807 -4.2%

Iceland compared with similar countries

  • Iceland's 0.807 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.786, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • Iceland's 0.807 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.737, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Electoral Democracy Index in Iceland 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.

YearChange FromTo
1904 +47.4% 0.346 0.51
1916 +40.0% 0.553 0.774

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 0.4663 0.346 0.554 10
1910s 0.6412 0.551 0.775 10
1920s 0.7719 0.77 0.776 10
1930s 0.7793 0.768 0.789 10
1940s 0.7847 0.771 0.797 10
1950s 0.8049 0.798 0.808 10
1960s 0.8138 0.807 0.824 10
1970s 0.8254 0.823 0.827 10
1980s 0.8507 0.843 0.859 10
1990s 0.8645 0.862 0.869 10
2000s 0.8703 0.865 0.882 10
2010s 0.8667 0.856 0.881 10
2020s 0.8362 0.807 0.859 6

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 24 Japan 0.819 compare
  2. 24 South Korea 0.819 compare
  3. 27 Jamaica 0.805 compare
  4. 28 Taiwan 0.801 compare
  5. 29 Barbados 0.797 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is electoral democracy index in Iceland?
Electoral democracy index in Iceland was 0.807 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest electoral democracy index recorded in Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 0.882 in 2009.
What is the lowest electoral democracy index recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 0.346 in 1900.
How does Iceland rank for electoral democracy index?
Iceland ranks 26th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is electoral democracy index rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is down 6.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland 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 Iceland. 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/iceland/

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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

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.