Statizoid

Key features of liberal democracy in New Zealand

New Zealand: Key features of liberal democracy was 0.787 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.787
Change on year
down 3.0%
World rank
14th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.84
in 2012
All-time low
0.304
in 1853
Years of data
173
1853–2025

Key features of liberal democracy in New Zealand, 1853–2025

00.20.40.60.8185319392025

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

Analysis

New Zealand recorded 0.787 for key features of liberal democracy in 2025.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.0% on the previous year and down 5.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, key features of liberal democracy in New Zealand peaked at 0.84 in 2012 and was at its lowest, 0.304, in 1853.

New Zealand ranks 14th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 173 years of available data.

Key features of liberal democracy in New Zealand, year by year

Year Value Change
1853 0.304 —
1854 0.33 +8.6%
1855 0.33 +0.0%
1856 0.378 +14.5%
1857 0.426 +12.7%
1858 0.426 +0.0%
1859 0.421 -1.2%
1860 0.421 +0.0%
1861 0.443 +5.2%
1862 0.444 +0.2%
1863 0.444 +0.0%
1864 0.444 +0.0%
1865 0.444 +0.0%
1866 0.442 -0.5%
1867 0.442 +0.0%
1868 0.443 +0.2%
1869 0.444 +0.2%
1870 0.444 +0.0%
1871 0.455 +2.5%
1872 0.455 +0.0%
1873 0.455 +0.0%
1874 0.455 +0.0%
1875 0.455 +0.0%
1876 0.456 +0.2%
1877 0.456 +0.0%
1878 0.456 +0.0%
1879 0.498 +9.2%
1880 0.497 -0.2%
1881 0.497 +0.0%
1882 0.5 +0.6%
1883 0.5 +0.0%
1884 0.501 +0.2%
1885 0.499 -0.4%
1886 0.499 +0.0%
1887 0.501 +0.4%
1888 0.505 +0.8%
1889 0.504 -0.2%
1890 0.499 -1.0%
1891 0.502 +0.6%
1892 0.502 +0.0%
1893 0.664 +32.3%
1894 0.665 +0.2%
1895 0.665 +0.0%
1896 0.666 +0.2%
1897 0.678 +1.8%
1898 0.678 +0.0%
1899 0.678 +0.0%
1900 0.684 +0.9%
1901 0.694 +1.5%
1902 0.695 +0.1%
1903 0.699 +0.6%
1904 0.699 +0.0%
1905 0.699 +0.0%
1906 0.697 -0.3%
1907 0.697 +0.0%
1908 0.697 +0.0%
1909 0.701 +0.6%
1910 0.701 +0.0%
1911 0.701 +0.0%
1912 0.683 -2.6%
1913 0.687 +0.6%
1914 0.676 -1.6%
1915 0.669 -1.0%
1916 0.673 +0.6%
1917 0.671 -0.3%
1918 0.671 +0.0%
1919 0.699 +4.2%
1920 0.707 +1.1%
1921 0.703 -0.6%
1922 0.708 +0.7%
1923 0.709 +0.1%
1924 0.709 +0.0%
1925 0.708 -0.1%
1926 0.705 -0.4%
1927 0.705 +0.0%
1928 0.706 +0.1%
1929 0.71 +0.6%
1930 0.718 +1.1%
1931 0.717 -0.1%
1932 0.703 -2.0%
1933 0.712 +1.3%
1934 0.712 +0.0%
1935 0.704 -1.1%
1936 0.691 -1.8%
1937 0.691 +0.0%
1938 0.691 +0.0%
1939 0.686 -0.7%
1940 0.679 -1.0%
1941 0.679 +0.0%
1942 0.679 +0.0%
1943 0.679 +0.0%
1944 0.679 +0.0%
1945 0.679 +0.0%
1946 0.697 +2.7%
1947 0.704 +1.0%
1948 0.704 +0.0%
1949 0.704 +0.0%
1950 0.702 -0.3%
1951 0.673 -4.1%
1952 0.689 +2.4%
1953 0.689 +0.0%
1954 0.696 +1.0%
1955 0.706 +1.4%
1956 0.706 +0.0%
1957 0.707 +0.1%
1958 0.711 +0.6%
1959 0.711 +0.0%
1960 0.731 +2.8%
1961 0.732 +0.1%
1962 0.744 +1.6%
1963 0.753 +1.2%
1964 0.751 -0.3%
1965 0.751 +0.0%
1966 0.752 +0.1%
1967 0.753 +0.1%
1968 0.753 +0.0%
1969 0.753 +0.0%
1970 0.768 +2.0%
1971 0.768 +0.0%
1972 0.769 +0.1%
1973 0.766 -0.4%
1974 0.772 +0.8%
1975 0.772 +0.0%
1976 0.778 +0.8%
1977 0.773 -0.6%
1978 0.776 +0.4%
1979 0.77 -0.8%
1980 0.775 +0.6%
1981 0.773 -0.3%
1982 0.775 +0.3%
1983 0.778 +0.4%
1984 0.788 +1.3%
1985 0.796 +1.0%
1986 0.803 +0.9%
1987 0.804 +0.1%
1988 0.806 +0.2%
1989 0.806 +0.0%
1990 0.808 +0.2%
1991 0.809 +0.1%
1992 0.809 +0.0%
1993 0.814 +0.6%
1994 0.813 -0.1%
1995 0.813 +0.0%
1996 0.82 +0.9%
1997 0.825 +0.6%
1998 0.825 +0.0%
1999 0.825 +0.0%
2000 0.827 +0.2%
2001 0.827 +0.0%
2002 0.826 -0.1%
2003 0.825 -0.1%
2004 0.825 +0.0%
2005 0.824 -0.1%
2006 0.822 -0.2%
2007 0.822 +0.0%
2008 0.825 +0.4%
2009 0.839 +1.7%
2010 0.839 +0.0%
2011 0.837 -0.2%
2012 0.84 +0.4%
2013 0.832 -1.0%
2014 0.831 -0.1%
2015 0.828 -0.4%
2016 0.828 +0.0%
2017 0.822 -0.7%
2018 0.833 +1.3%
2019 0.831 -0.2%
2020 0.826 -0.6%
2021 0.813 -1.6%
2022 0.822 +1.1%
2023 0.824 +0.2%
2024 0.811 -1.6%
2025 0.787 -3.0%

New Zealand compared with similar countries

  • New Zealand's 0.787 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.689, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • New Zealand's 0.787 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.3575, 2.2× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Key features of liberal 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 +32.3% 0.502 0.664

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1850s 0.3736 0.304 0.426 7
1860s 0.4411 0.421 0.444 10
1870s 0.4585 0.444 0.498 10
1880s 0.5003 0.497 0.505 10
1890s 0.6197 0.499 0.678 10
1900s 0.6962 0.684 0.701 10
1910s 0.6831 0.669 0.701 10
1920s 0.707 0.703 0.71 10
1930s 0.7025 0.686 0.718 10
1940s 0.6883 0.679 0.704 10
1950s 0.699 0.673 0.711 10
1960s 0.7473 0.731 0.753 10
1970s 0.7712 0.766 0.778 10
1980s 0.7904 0.773 0.806 10
1990s 0.8161 0.808 0.825 10
2000s 0.8262 0.822 0.839 10
2010s 0.8321 0.822 0.84 10
2020s 0.8138 0.787 0.826 6

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 12 Australia 0.793 compare
  2. 13 Uruguay 0.79 compare
  3. 15 Germany 0.782 compare
  4. 16 Chile 0.781 compare
  5. 17 Luxembourg 0.777 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 liberal democracy in New Zealand?
Key features of liberal democracy in New Zealand was 0.787 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest key features of liberal democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 0.84 in 2012.
What is the lowest key features of liberal democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 0.304 in 1853.
How does New Zealand rank for key features of liberal democracy?
New Zealand ranks 14th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is key features of liberal democracy rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is down 5.0%. 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 liberal 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 liberal 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-liberal-democracy/new-zealand/

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About this data

Indicator
Key features of liberal democracy
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 28,671 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate of the extent of suffrage, the freedom and fairness of elections, freedoms of association and expression, individual and minority rights, equality before the law, and executive constraints.