Electoral democracy in Panama
Panama: Electoral democracy was 2 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Electoral democracy in Panama, 1903–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, electoral democracy in Panama stood at 2. That is the highest value across all 123 years on record.
The figure is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, electoral democracy in Panama peaked at 2 in 1991 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1903.
Panama ranks 1st of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 123 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.8571 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1920s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.8 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.9 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.8 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.7 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.9 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 2000s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2010s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2020s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Panama
- 1 Argentina 2 compare
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More social development data for Panama
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,694 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 375 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.728 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.812 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.881 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.728 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.441 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.575 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is electoral democracy in Panama?
- Electoral democracy in Panama was 2 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest electoral democracy recorded in Panama?
- The highest recorded value was 2 in 1991.
- What is the lowest electoral democracy recorded in Panama?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1903.
- How does Panama rank for electoral democracy?
- Panama ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is electoral democracy rising or falling in Panama?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Panama 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 123 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg.