Key features of democracy in Iceland
Iceland: Key features of democracy was 0.807 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.807
Change on year
down 4.2%
World rank
26th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.882
in 2009
All-time low
0.346
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Key features of democracy in Iceland, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for key features of democracy in Iceland is 0.807, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.2% on the previous year and down 6.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, key features of democracy in Iceland peaked at 0.882 in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.346, in 1900.
Iceland ranks 26th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Key features of democracy in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.346 | — |
| 1901 | 0.346 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.346 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.346 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.51 | +47.4% |
| 1905 | 0.554 | +8.6% |
| 1906 | 0.554 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.554 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.554 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.553 | -0.2% |
| 1910 | 0.553 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 0.553 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.551 | -0.4% |
| 1913 | 0.551 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.553 | +0.4% |
| 1915 | 0.553 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.774 | +40.0% |
| 1917 | 0.775 | +0.1% |
| 1918 | 0.775 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.774 | -0.1% |
| 1920 | 0.77 | -0.5% |
| 1921 | 0.77 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.77 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.77 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.771 | +0.1% |
| 1925 | 0.771 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.771 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.774 | +0.4% |
| 1928 | 0.776 | +0.3% |
| 1929 | 0.776 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.772 | -0.5% |
| 1931 | 0.771 | -0.1% |
| 1932 | 0.77 | -0.1% |
| 1933 | 0.769 | -0.1% |
| 1934 | 0.768 | -0.1% |
| 1935 | 0.788 | +2.6% |
| 1936 | 0.788 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.789 | +0.1% |
| 1938 | 0.789 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.789 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.771 | -2.3% |
| 1941 | 0.771 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.774 | +0.4% |
| 1943 | 0.776 | +0.3% |
| 1944 | 0.784 | +1.0% |
| 1945 | 0.789 | +0.6% |
| 1946 | 0.797 | +1.0% |
| 1947 | 0.795 | -0.3% |
| 1948 | 0.795 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.795 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.798 | +0.4% |
| 1951 | 0.798 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.802 | +0.5% |
| 1953 | 0.806 | +0.5% |
| 1954 | 0.807 | +0.1% |
| 1955 | 0.807 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 0.807 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.808 | +0.1% |
| 1958 | 0.808 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.808 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.809 | +0.1% |
| 1961 | 0.809 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.809 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.808 | -0.1% |
| 1964 | 0.807 | -0.1% |
| 1965 | 0.807 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.818 | +1.4% |
| 1967 | 0.824 | +0.7% |
| 1968 | 0.824 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.823 | -0.1% |
| 1970 | 0.823 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.825 | +0.2% |
| 1972 | 0.826 | +0.1% |
| 1973 | 0.826 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.826 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.825 | -0.1% |
| 1976 | 0.825 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.825 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.826 | +0.1% |
| 1979 | 0.827 | +0.1% |
| 1980 | 0.849 | +2.7% |
| 1981 | 0.849 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.849 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.845 | -0.5% |
| 1984 | 0.843 | -0.2% |
| 1985 | 0.843 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.852 | +1.1% |
| 1987 | 0.859 | +0.8% |
| 1988 | 0.859 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.859 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.862 | +0.3% |
| 1991 | 0.862 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.862 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.862 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.862 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.862 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.869 | +0.8% |
| 1997 | 0.868 | -0.1% |
| 1998 | 0.868 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.868 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.868 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.868 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.868 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.867 | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 0.867 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.865 | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 0.865 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.873 | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 0.88 | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 0.882 | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 0.881 | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 0.881 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.875 | -0.7% |
| 2013 | 0.858 | -1.9% |
| 2014 | 0.856 | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 0.861 | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 0.86 | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 0.861 | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 0.875 | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 0.859 | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 0.859 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.836 | -2.7% |
| 2022 | 0.832 | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 0.841 | +1.1% |
| 2024 | 0.842 | +0.1% |
| 2025 | 0.807 | -4.2% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 0.807 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.786, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 0.807 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.737, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Key features of democracy in Iceland 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.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | +47.4% | 0.346 | 0.51 |
| 1916 | +40.0% | 0.553 | 0.774 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.4663 | 0.346 | 0.554 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.6412 | 0.551 | 0.775 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.7719 | 0.77 | 0.776 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.7793 | 0.768 | 0.789 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.7847 | 0.771 | 0.797 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.8049 | 0.798 | 0.808 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.8138 | 0.807 | 0.824 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.8254 | 0.823 | 0.827 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8507 | 0.843 | 0.859 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.8645 | 0.862 | 0.869 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8703 | 0.865 | 0.882 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8667 | 0.856 | 0.881 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8362 | 0.807 | 0.859 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More social development data for Iceland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,459 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0216 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is key features of democracy in Iceland?
- Key features of democracy in Iceland was 0.807 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest key features of democracy recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 0.882 in 2009.
- What is the lowest key features of democracy recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.346 in 1900.
- How does Iceland rank for key features of democracy?
- Iceland ranks 26th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is key features of democracy rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Key features of democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
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.