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Electoral Democracy Index in Italy

Italy: Electoral Democracy Index was 0.745 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
0.745
Change on year
down 5.0%
World rank
40th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.87
in 2017
All-time low
0.018
in 1815
Years of data
211
1815–2025

Electoral Democracy Index in Italy, 1815–2025

00.20.40.60.8181519202025

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

Analysis

Italy recorded 0.745 for electoral democracy index in 2025.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.0% on the previous year and down 13.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, electoral democracy index in Italy peaked at 0.87 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.018, in 1815.

That places Italy 40th out of 176 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.

Electoral Democracy Index in Italy, year by year

Year Value Change
1815 0.018 —
1816 0.018 +0.0%
1817 0.018 +0.0%
1818 0.018 +0.0%
1819 0.018 +0.0%
1820 0.018 +0.0%
1821 0.018 +0.0%
1822 0.018 +0.0%
1823 0.018 +0.0%
1824 0.018 +0.0%
1825 0.018 +0.0%
1826 0.018 +0.0%
1827 0.018 +0.0%
1828 0.018 +0.0%
1829 0.018 +0.0%
1830 0.018 +0.0%
1831 0.018 +0.0%
1832 0.019 +5.6%
1833 0.019 +0.0%
1834 0.019 +0.0%
1835 0.019 +0.0%
1836 0.019 +0.0%
1837 0.019 +0.0%
1838 0.019 +0.0%
1839 0.019 +0.0%
1840 0.019 +0.0%
1841 0.019 +0.0%
1842 0.019 +0.0%
1843 0.019 +0.0%
1844 0.019 +0.0%
1845 0.019 +0.0%
1846 0.019 +0.0%
1847 0.019 +0.0%
1848 0.118 +521.1%
1849 0.2 +69.5%
1850 0.205 +2.5%
1851 0.205 +0.0%
1852 0.205 +0.0%
1853 0.205 +0.0%
1854 0.207 +1.0%
1855 0.207 +0.0%
1856 0.207 +0.0%
1857 0.208 +0.5%
1858 0.206 -1.0%
1859 0.206 +0.0%
1860 0.211 +2.4%
1861 0.212 +0.5%
1862 0.207 -2.4%
1863 0.207 +0.0%
1864 0.207 +0.0%
1865 0.205 -1.0%
1866 0.272 +32.7%
1867 0.27 -0.7%
1868 0.274 +1.5%
1869 0.274 +0.0%
1870 0.271 -1.1%
1871 0.241 -11.1%
1872 0.241 +0.0%
1873 0.241 +0.0%
1874 0.237 -1.7%
1875 0.24 +1.3%
1876 0.238 -0.8%
1877 0.24 +0.8%
1878 0.24 +0.0%
1879 0.24 +0.0%
1880 0.272 +13.3%
1881 0.276 +1.5%
1882 0.286 +3.6%
1883 0.291 +1.7%
1884 0.291 +0.0%
1885 0.291 +0.0%
1886 0.289 -0.7%
1887 0.291 +0.7%
1888 0.286 -1.7%
1889 0.286 +0.0%
1890 0.296 +3.5%
1891 0.301 +1.7%
1892 0.3 -0.3%
1893 0.303 +1.0%
1894 0.303 +0.0%
1895 0.293 -3.3%
1896 0.297 +1.4%
1897 0.295 -0.7%
1898 0.282 -4.4%
1899 0.282 +0.0%
1900 0.307 +8.9%
1901 0.303 -1.3%
1902 0.303 +0.0%
1903 0.303 +0.0%
1904 0.304 +0.3%
1905 0.308 +1.3%
1906 0.308 +0.0%
1907 0.308 +0.0%
1908 0.308 +0.0%
1909 0.306 -0.6%
1910 0.307 +0.3%
1911 0.309 +0.7%
1912 0.309 +0.0%
1913 0.367 +18.8%
1914 0.364 -0.8%
1915 0.34 -6.6%
1916 0.339 -0.3%
1917 0.339 +0.0%
1918 0.338 -0.3%
1919 0.367 +8.6%
1920 0.375 +2.2%
1921 0.362 -3.5%
1922 0.301 -16.9%
1923 0.26 -13.6%
1924 0.186 -28.5%
1925 0.088 -52.7%
1926 0.068 -22.7%
1927 0.068 +0.0%
1928 0.068 +0.0%
1929 0.06 -11.8%
1930 0.058 -3.3%
1931 0.057 -1.7%
1932 0.057 +0.0%
1933 0.058 +1.8%
1934 0.054 -6.9%
1935 0.053 -1.9%
1936 0.053 +0.0%
1937 0.054 +1.9%
1938 0.054 +0.0%
1939 0.054 +0.0%
1940 0.054 +0.0%
1941 0.054 +0.0%
1942 0.054 +0.0%
1943 0.052 -3.7%
1944 0.1 +92.3%
1945 0.132 +32.0%
1946 0.429 +225.0%
1947 0.629 +46.6%
1948 0.623 -1.0%
1949 0.678 +8.8%
1950 0.678 +0.0%
1951 0.678 +0.0%
1952 0.678 +0.0%
1953 0.684 +0.9%
1954 0.688 +0.6%
1955 0.688 +0.0%
1956 0.705 +2.5%
1957 0.705 +0.0%
1958 0.709 +0.6%
1959 0.711 +0.3%
1960 0.727 +2.3%
1961 0.727 +0.0%
1962 0.727 +0.0%
1963 0.728 +0.1%
1964 0.729 +0.1%
1965 0.729 +0.0%
1966 0.729 +0.0%
1967 0.729 +0.0%
1968 0.729 +0.0%
1969 0.732 +0.4%
1970 0.744 +1.6%
1971 0.741 -0.4%
1972 0.742 +0.1%
1973 0.748 +0.8%
1974 0.748 +0.0%
1975 0.752 +0.5%
1976 0.758 +0.8%
1977 0.764 +0.8%
1978 0.764 +0.0%
1979 0.763 -0.1%
1980 0.792 +3.8%
1981 0.802 +1.3%
1982 0.802 +0.0%
1983 0.806 +0.5%
1984 0.819 +1.6%
1985 0.819 +0.0%
1986 0.819 +0.0%
1987 0.82 +0.1%
1988 0.821 +0.1%
1989 0.821 +0.0%
1990 0.821 +0.0%
1991 0.829 +1.0%
1992 0.831 +0.2%
1993 0.835 +0.5%
1994 0.83 -0.6%
1995 0.828 -0.2%
1996 0.835 +0.8%
1997 0.843 +1.0%
1998 0.843 +0.0%
1999 0.843 +0.0%
2000 0.84 -0.4%
2001 0.833 -0.8%
2002 0.837 +0.5%
2003 0.837 +0.0%
2004 0.837 +0.0%
2005 0.846 +1.1%
2006 0.852 +0.7%
2007 0.861 +1.1%
2008 0.855 -0.7%
2009 0.857 +0.2%
2010 0.856 -0.1%
2011 0.862 +0.7%
2012 0.869 +0.8%
2013 0.864 -0.6%
2014 0.865 +0.1%
2015 0.865 +0.0%
2016 0.869 +0.5%
2017 0.87 +0.1%
2018 0.864 -0.7%
2019 0.854 -1.2%
2020 0.857 +0.4%
2021 0.857 +0.0%
2022 0.842 -1.8%
2023 0.806 -4.3%
2024 0.784 -2.7%
2025 0.745 -5.0%

Italy compared with similar countries

  • Italy's 0.745 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.786, 95% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • Italy's 0.745 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.737, 1.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Electoral Democracy Index in Italy 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
1848 +521.1% 0.019 0.118
1946 +225.0% 0.132 0.429
1944 +92.3% 0.052 0.1
1849 +69.5% 0.118 0.2
1925 -52.7% 0.186 0.088
1947 +46.6% 0.429 0.629

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1810s 0.018 0.018 0.018 5
1820s 0.018 0.018 0.018 10
1830s 0.0188 0.018 0.019 10
1840s 0.047 0.019 0.2 10
1850s 0.2061 0.205 0.208 10
1860s 0.2339 0.205 0.274 10
1870s 0.2429 0.237 0.271 10
1880s 0.2859 0.272 0.291 10
1890s 0.2952 0.282 0.303 10
1900s 0.3058 0.303 0.308 10
1910s 0.3379 0.307 0.367 10
1920s 0.1836 0.06 0.375 10
1930s 0.0552 0.053 0.058 10
1940s 0.2805 0.052 0.678 10
1950s 0.6924 0.678 0.711 10
1960s 0.7286 0.727 0.732 10
1970s 0.7524 0.741 0.764 10
1980s 0.8121 0.792 0.821 10
1990s 0.8338 0.821 0.843 10
2000s 0.8455 0.833 0.861 10
2010s 0.8638 0.854 0.87 10
2020s 0.8152 0.745 0.857 6

Countries ranked near Italy

  1. 37 United Kingdom 0.772 compare
  2. 38 Poland 0.768 compare
  3. 39 Seychelles 0.76 compare
  4. 40 Cape Verde 0.745 compare
  5. 42 South Africa 0.743 compare
  6. 43 Greece 0.741 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Italy

All data for Italy →

Frequently asked questions

What is electoral democracy index in Italy?
Electoral democracy index in Italy was 0.745 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest electoral democracy index recorded in Italy?
The highest recorded value was 0.87 in 2017.
What is the lowest electoral democracy index recorded in Italy?
The lowest recorded value was 0.018 in 1815.
How does Italy rank for electoral democracy index?
Italy ranks 40th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is electoral democracy index rising or falling in Italy?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Italy 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 Italy. 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/italy/

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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.