Statizoid

Electoral democracy in New Zealand

New Zealand: Electoral democracy was 2 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
2
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 176 countries
All-time high
2
in 1887
All-time low
0
in 1853
Years of data
153
1853–2025

Electoral democracy in New Zealand, 1853–2025

00.511.52185319392025

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

Analysis

New Zealand recorded 2 for electoral democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 153 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, electoral democracy in New Zealand peaked at 2 in 1887 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1853.

New Zealand ranks 1st of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 153 years of available data.

Electoral democracy in New Zealand, year by year

Year Value Change
1853 0 —
1854 0 —
1855 0 —
1856 0 —
1857 0 —
1858 0 —
1859 0 —
1860 0 —
1861 0 —
1866 0 —
1867 0 —
1868 0 —
1869 0 —
1870 0 —
1887 2 —
1888 2 +0.0%
1889 2 +0.0%
1890 2 +0.0%
1891 2 +0.0%
1892 2 +0.0%
1893 2 +0.0%
1894 2 +0.0%
1895 2 +0.0%
1896 2 +0.0%
1897 2 +0.0%
1898 2 +0.0%
1899 2 +0.0%
1900 2 +0.0%
1901 2 +0.0%
1902 2 +0.0%
1903 2 +0.0%
1904 2 +0.0%
1905 2 +0.0%
1906 2 +0.0%
1907 2 +0.0%
1908 2 +0.0%
1909 2 +0.0%
1910 2 +0.0%
1911 2 +0.0%
1912 2 +0.0%
1913 2 +0.0%
1914 2 +0.0%
1915 2 +0.0%
1916 2 +0.0%
1917 2 +0.0%
1918 2 +0.0%
1919 2 +0.0%
1920 2 +0.0%
1921 2 +0.0%
1922 2 +0.0%
1923 2 +0.0%
1924 2 +0.0%
1925 2 +0.0%
1926 2 +0.0%
1927 2 +0.0%
1928 2 +0.0%
1929 2 +0.0%
1930 2 +0.0%
1931 2 +0.0%
1932 2 +0.0%
1933 2 +0.0%
1934 2 +0.0%
1935 2 +0.0%
1936 2 +0.0%
1937 2 +0.0%
1938 2 +0.0%
1939 2 +0.0%
1940 2 +0.0%
1941 2 +0.0%
1942 2 +0.0%
1943 2 +0.0%
1944 2 +0.0%
1945 2 +0.0%
1946 2 +0.0%
1947 2 +0.0%
1948 2 +0.0%
1949 2 +0.0%
1950 2 +0.0%
1951 2 +0.0%
1952 2 +0.0%
1953 2 +0.0%
1954 2 +0.0%
1955 2 +0.0%
1956 2 +0.0%
1957 2 +0.0%
1958 2 +0.0%
1959 2 +0.0%
1960 2 +0.0%
1961 2 +0.0%
1962 2 +0.0%
1963 2 +0.0%
1964 2 +0.0%
1965 2 +0.0%
1966 2 +0.0%
1967 2 +0.0%
1968 2 +0.0%
1969 2 +0.0%
1970 2 +0.0%
1971 2 +0.0%
1972 2 +0.0%
1973 2 +0.0%
1974 2 +0.0%
1975 2 +0.0%
1976 2 +0.0%
1977 2 +0.0%
1978 2 +0.0%
1979 2 +0.0%
1980 2 +0.0%
1981 2 +0.0%
1982 2 +0.0%
1983 2 +0.0%
1984 2 +0.0%
1985 2 +0.0%
1986 2 +0.0%
1987 2 +0.0%
1988 2 +0.0%
1989 2 +0.0%
1990 2 +0.0%
1991 2 +0.0%
1992 2 +0.0%
1993 2 +0.0%
1994 2 +0.0%
1995 2 +0.0%
1996 2 +0.0%
1997 2 +0.0%
1998 2 +0.0%
1999 2 +0.0%
2000 2 +0.0%
2001 2 +0.0%
2002 2 +0.0%
2003 2 +0.0%
2004 2 +0.0%
2005 2 +0.0%
2006 2 +0.0%
2007 2 +0.0%
2008 2 +0.0%
2009 2 +0.0%
2010 2 +0.0%
2011 2 +0.0%
2012 2 +0.0%
2013 2 +0.0%
2014 2 +0.0%
2015 2 +0.0%
2016 2 +0.0%
2017 2 +0.0%
2018 2 +0.0%
2019 2 +0.0%
2020 2 +0.0%
2021 2 +0.0%
2022 2 +0.0%
2023 2 +0.0%
2024 2 +0.0%
2025 2 +0.0%

New Zealand compared with similar countries

  • New Zealand's 2 is above the median for high income countries, which is 2, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • New Zealand's 2 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1, 2.0× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1850s 0 0 0 7
1860s 0 0 0 6
1870s 0 0 0 1
1880s 2 2 2 3
1890s 2 2 2 10
1900s 2 2 2 10
1910s 2 2 2 10
1920s 2 2 2 10
1930s 2 2 2 10
1940s 2 2 2 10
1950s 2 2 2 10
1960s 2 2 2 10
1970s 2 2 2 10
1980s 2 2 2 10
1990s 2 2 2 10
2000s 2 2 2 10
2010s 2 2 2 10
2020s 2 2 2 6

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 1 Argentina 2 compare
  2. 1 Armenia 2 compare
  3. 1 Australia 2 compare
  4. 1 Austria 2 compare
  5. 1 Barbados 2 compare
  6. 1 Belgium 2 compare
  7. 1 Bhutan 2 compare
  8. 1 Bolivia 2 compare
  9. 1 Botswana 2 compare
  10. 1 Brazil 2 compare
  11. 1 Bulgaria 2 compare
  12. 1 Canada 2 compare
  13. 1 Cape Verde 2 compare
  14. 1 Chile 2 compare
  15. 1 Colombia 2 compare
  16. 1 Costa Rica 2 compare
  17. 1 Croatia 2 compare
  18. 1 Cyprus 2 compare
  19. 1 Czechia 2 compare
  20. 1 Denmark 2 compare
  21. 1 Dominican Republic 2 compare
  22. 1 East Timor 2 compare
  23. 1 Ecuador 2 compare
  24. 1 Estonia 2 compare
  25. 1 Fiji 2 compare
  26. 1 Finland 2 compare
  27. 1 France 2 compare
  28. 1 Gambia 2 compare
  29. 1 Germany 2 compare
  30. 1 Ghana 2 compare
  31. 1 Greece 2 compare
  32. 1 Guatemala 2 compare
  33. 1 Guyana 2 compare
  34. 1 Honduras 2 compare
  35. 1 Iceland 2 compare
  36. 1 Ireland 2 compare
  37. 1 Israel 2 compare
  38. 1 Italy 2 compare
  39. 1 Jamaica 2 compare
  40. 1 Japan 2 compare
  41. 1 Kenya 2 compare
  42. 1 Latvia 2 compare
  43. 1 Lesotho 2 compare
  44. 1 Liberia 2 compare
  45. 1 Lithuania 2 compare
  46. 1 Luxembourg 2 compare
  47. 1 Malawi 2 compare
  48. 1 Malaysia 2 compare
  49. 1 Maldives 2 compare
  50. 1 Malta 2 compare
  51. 1 Mauritius 2 compare
  52. 1 Moldova 2 compare
  53. 1 Mongolia 2 compare
  54. 1 Montenegro 2 compare
  55. 1 Namibia 2 compare
  56. 1 Nepal 2 compare
  57. 1 Netherlands 2 compare
  58. 1 Nigeria 2 compare
  59. 1 North Macedonia 2 compare
  60. 1 Norway 2 compare
  61. 1 Panama 2 compare
  62. 1 Paraguay 2 compare
  63. 1 Peru 2 compare
  64. 1 Poland 2 compare
  65. 1 Portugal 2 compare
  66. 1 Romania 2 compare
  67. 1 Sao Tome and Principe 2 compare
  68. 1 Senegal 2 compare
  69. 1 Seychelles 2 compare
  70. 1 Slovakia 2 compare
  71. 1 Slovenia 2 compare
  72. 1 Solomon Islands 2 compare
  73. 1 South Africa 2 compare
  74. 1 South Korea 2 compare
  75. 1 Spain 2 compare
  76. 1 Sri Lanka 2 compare
  77. 1 Suriname 2 compare
  78. 1 Sweden 2 compare
  79. 1 Switzerland 2 compare
  80. 1 Taiwan 2 compare
  81. 1 Trinidad and Tobago 2 compare
  82. 1 United Kingdom 2 compare
  83. 1 United States 2 compare
  84. 1 Uruguay 2 compare
  85. 1 Vanuatu 2 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is electoral democracy in New Zealand?
Electoral democracy in New Zealand was 2 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest electoral democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 2 in 1887.
What is the lowest electoral democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1853.
How does New Zealand rank for electoral democracy?
New Zealand ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is electoral democracy rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this New Zealand data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Electoral democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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CSV · JSON — 153 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Relationships involving this indicator

Comparisons with other indicators across countries. Each was re-measured with population and national income held constant, so a relationship that only reflected country size is not listed here.

All correlations →

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Electoral democracy in New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/electoral-democracy-row/new-zealand/

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About this data

Indicator
Electoral democracy
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 29,594 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg.