Statizoid

Key features of democracy in New Zealand

New Zealand: Key features of democracy 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

Key features of democracy in New Zealand, 1853–2025

0.20.40.60.8185319392025

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

Analysis

New Zealand recorded 0.849 for key features of democracy in 2025.

The figure is down 2.2% on the previous year and down 3.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, key features of democracy 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.

Key features of democracy in New Zealand, year by year

Year Value Change
1853 0.269 —
1854 0.32 +19.0%
1855 0.32 +0.0%
1856 0.397 +24.1%
1857 0.474 +19.4%
1858 0.474 +0.0%
1859 0.467 -1.5%
1860 0.467 +0.0%
1861 0.498 +6.6%
1862 0.502 +0.8%
1863 0.502 +0.0%
1864 0.502 +0.0%
1865 0.502 +0.0%
1866 0.499 -0.6%
1867 0.498 -0.2%
1868 0.499 +0.2%
1869 0.5 +0.2%
1870 0.5 +0.0%
1871 0.516 +3.2%
1872 0.516 +0.0%
1873 0.516 +0.0%
1874 0.516 +0.0%
1875 0.516 +0.0%
1876 0.517 +0.2%
1877 0.517 +0.0%
1878 0.517 +0.0%
1879 0.572 +10.6%
1880 0.57 -0.3%
1881 0.571 +0.2%
1882 0.573 +0.4%
1883 0.573 +0.0%
1884 0.572 -0.2%
1885 0.57 -0.3%
1886 0.57 +0.0%
1887 0.571 +0.2%
1888 0.575 +0.7%
1889 0.573 -0.3%
1890 0.567 -1.0%
1891 0.573 +1.1%
1892 0.573 +0.0%
1893 0.761 +32.8%
1894 0.762 +0.1%
1895 0.762 +0.0%
1896 0.763 +0.1%
1897 0.775 +1.6%
1898 0.775 +0.0%
1899 0.775 +0.0%
1900 0.783 +1.0%
1901 0.793 +1.3%
1902 0.794 +0.1%
1903 0.796 +0.3%
1904 0.796 +0.0%
1905 0.796 +0.0%
1906 0.797 +0.1%
1907 0.797 +0.0%
1908 0.797 +0.0%
1909 0.798 +0.1%
1910 0.798 +0.0%
1911 0.798 +0.0%
1912 0.781 -2.1%
1913 0.783 +0.3%
1914 0.772 -1.4%
1915 0.767 -0.6%
1916 0.769 +0.3%
1917 0.767 -0.3%
1918 0.767 +0.0%
1919 0.796 +3.8%
1920 0.802 +0.8%
1921 0.798 -0.5%
1922 0.804 +0.8%
1923 0.806 +0.2%
1924 0.806 +0.0%
1925 0.805 -0.1%
1926 0.802 -0.4%
1927 0.802 +0.0%
1928 0.803 +0.1%
1929 0.807 +0.5%
1930 0.814 +0.9%
1931 0.814 +0.0%
1932 0.8 -1.7%
1933 0.81 +1.3%
1934 0.81 +0.0%
1935 0.802 -1.0%
1936 0.787 -1.9%
1937 0.787 +0.0%
1938 0.787 +0.0%
1939 0.782 -0.6%
1940 0.774 -1.0%
1941 0.774 +0.0%
1942 0.774 +0.0%
1943 0.774 +0.0%
1944 0.774 +0.0%
1945 0.774 +0.0%
1946 0.794 +2.6%
1947 0.802 +1.0%
1948 0.802 +0.0%
1949 0.801 -0.1%
1950 0.8 -0.1%
1951 0.768 -4.0%
1952 0.786 +2.3%
1953 0.786 +0.0%
1954 0.793 +0.9%
1955 0.804 +1.4%
1956 0.804 +0.0%
1957 0.804 +0.0%
1958 0.809 +0.6%
1959 0.809 +0.0%
1960 0.82 +1.4%
1961 0.822 +0.2%
1962 0.829 +0.9%
1963 0.833 +0.5%
1964 0.831 -0.2%
1965 0.831 +0.0%
1966 0.831 +0.0%
1967 0.833 +0.2%
1968 0.833 +0.0%
1969 0.833 +0.0%
1970 0.847 +1.7%
1971 0.847 +0.0%
1972 0.847 +0.0%
1973 0.845 -0.2%
1974 0.85 +0.6%
1975 0.85 +0.0%
1976 0.853 +0.4%
1977 0.847 -0.7%
1978 0.849 +0.2%
1979 0.846 -0.4%
1980 0.849 +0.4%
1981 0.849 +0.0%
1982 0.85 +0.1%
1983 0.853 +0.4%
1984 0.862 +1.1%
1985 0.863 +0.1%
1986 0.863 +0.0%
1987 0.864 +0.1%
1988 0.866 +0.2%
1989 0.866 +0.0%
1990 0.869 +0.3%
1991 0.871 +0.2%
1992 0.871 +0.0%
1993 0.874 +0.3%
1994 0.872 -0.2%
1995 0.872 +0.0%
1996 0.879 +0.8%
1997 0.88 +0.1%
1998 0.88 +0.0%
1999 0.88 +0.0%
2000 0.881 +0.1%
2001 0.881 +0.0%
2002 0.881 +0.0%
2003 0.88 -0.1%
2004 0.88 +0.0%
2005 0.879 -0.1%
2006 0.878 -0.1%
2007 0.878 +0.0%
2008 0.88 +0.2%
2009 0.893 +1.5%
2010 0.893 +0.0%
2011 0.891 -0.2%
2012 0.893 +0.2%
2013 0.887 -0.7%
2014 0.886 -0.1%
2015 0.883 -0.3%
2016 0.883 +0.0%
2017 0.879 -0.5%
2018 0.888 +1.0%
2019 0.885 -0.3%
2020 0.882 -0.3%
2021 0.874 -0.9%
2022 0.878 +0.5%
2023 0.88 +0.2%
2024 0.868 -1.4%
2025 0.849 -2.2%

New Zealand compared with similar countries

  • New Zealand's 0.849 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.786, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • New Zealand's 0.849 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.4645, 1.8× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Key features of democracy in New Zealand 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.

YearChange FromTo
1893 +32.8% 0.573 0.761

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest 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

  1. 10 Costa Rica 0.862 compare
  2. 10 Uruguay 0.862 compare
  3. 12 Finland 0.852 compare
  4. 13 Czechia 0.849 compare
  5. 15 Australia 0.844 compare
  6. 16 Canada 0.84 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 key features of democracy in New Zealand?
Key features of democracy in New Zealand was 0.849 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest key features of democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 0.893 in 2009.
What is the lowest key features of democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 0.269 in 1853.
How does New Zealand rank for key features of democracy?
New Zealand ranks 13th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is key features of democracy 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 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.

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CSV · JSON — 173 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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Key features of democracy in New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 October 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/key-features-of-democracy/new-zealand/

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About this data

Indicator
Key features of democracy
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 29,649 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

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.