Full democracy in Italy
Italy: Full democracy was 1 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Full democracy in Italy, 1861–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Italy recorded 1 for full democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 165 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, full democracy in Italy peaked at 1 in 1956 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1861.
That places Italy 1st out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 1870s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1880s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1890s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.4 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
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More social development data for Italy
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 192,914 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 266 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.745 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.756 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.875 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.745 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.569 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.642 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is full democracy in Italy?
- Full democracy in Italy was 1 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest full democracy recorded in Italy?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1956.
- What is the lowest full democracy recorded in Italy?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1861.
- How does Italy rank for full democracy?
- Italy ranks 1st out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is full democracy rising or falling in Italy?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Italy data come from?
- The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Full democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 165 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Identifies if a country is a full democracy using the extended Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy (LIED+).