Electoral democracy index in New Zealand
New Zealand: Electoral democracy index was 0.849 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.849
Change on year
down 2.2%
World rank
13th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.893
in 2009
All-time low
0.269
in 1853
Years of data
173
1853–2025
Electoral democracy index in New Zealand, 1853–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, electoral democracy index in New Zealand stood at 0.849.
The figure is down 2.2% on the previous year and down 3.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, electoral democracy index in New Zealand peaked at 0.893 in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.269, in 1853.
That places New Zealand 13th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 173 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1850s | 0.3887 | 0.269 | 0.474 | 7 |
| 1860s | 0.4969 | 0.467 | 0.502 | 10 |
| 1870s | 0.5203 | 0.5 | 0.572 | 10 |
| 1880s | 0.5718 | 0.57 | 0.575 | 10 |
| 1890s | 0.7086 | 0.567 | 0.775 | 10 |
| 1900s | 0.7947 | 0.783 | 0.798 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.7798 | 0.767 | 0.798 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.8035 | 0.798 | 0.807 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.7993 | 0.782 | 0.814 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.7843 | 0.774 | 0.802 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.7963 | 0.768 | 0.809 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.8296 | 0.82 | 0.833 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.8481 | 0.845 | 0.853 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8585 | 0.849 | 0.866 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.8748 | 0.869 | 0.88 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8811 | 0.878 | 0.893 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8868 | 0.879 | 0.893 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8718 | 0.849 | 0.882 | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More social development data for New Zealand
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,148 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 58 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh 1 (2025)
- Democracy lexical 1 (2025)
- Human rights index vs electoral democracy index 0.948 (2025)
- Liberal democracy index 0.787 (2025)
- Freedom of association index 0.885 (2025)
- Freedom of expression index 0.927 (2025)
- Participatory democracy index 0.581 (2025)
- Varieties democracy vdem 0.849 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is electoral democracy index in New Zealand?
- Electoral democracy index in New Zealand was 0.849 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest electoral democracy index recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 0.893 in 2009.
- What is the lowest electoral democracy index recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.269 in 1853.
- How does New Zealand rank for electoral democracy index?
- New Zealand ranks 13th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is electoral democracy index rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Electoral democracy index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 173 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).