What is liberal democracy index in Ireland?

Liberal democracy index in Ireland was 0.822 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest liberal democracy index recorded in Ireland?

The highest recorded value was 0.833 in 2021.

What is the lowest liberal democracy index recorded in Ireland?

The lowest recorded value was 0.229 in 1789.

How does Ireland rank for liberal democracy index?

Ireland ranks 6th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is liberal democracy index rising or falling in Ireland?

Over the last ten years it is down 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Ireland data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Liberal Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Liberal Democracy Index in Ireland

Name: Liberal Democracy Index in Ireland
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Ireland: Liberal Democracy Index was 0.822 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.822

Change on year

down 1.0%

World rank

6th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.833

in 2021

All-time low

0.229

in 1789

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Liberal Democracy Index in Ireland, 1789–2025

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

Analysis

In 2025, liberal democracy index in Ireland stood at 0.822.

The figure is down 1.0% on the previous year and down 0.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, liberal democracy index in Ireland peaked at 0.833 in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.229, in 1789.

Ireland ranks 6th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 237 years of available data.

Liberal Democracy Index in Ireland, year by year

Annual values for Liberal Democracy Index in Ireland, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.229	—
1790	0.239	+4.4%
1791	0.244	+2.1%
1792	0.243	-0.4%
1793	0.243	+0.0%
1794	0.243	+0.0%
1795	0.242	-0.4%
1796	0.248	+2.5%
1797	0.246	-0.8%
1798	0.246	+0.0%
1799	0.246	+0.0%
1800	0.246	+0.0%
1801	0.249	+1.2%
1802	0.249	+0.0%
1803	0.247	-0.8%
1804	0.247	+0.0%
1805	0.247	+0.0%
1806	0.249	+0.8%
1807	0.249	+0.0%
1808	0.246	-1.2%
1809	0.246	+0.0%
1810	0.249	+1.2%
1811	0.247	-0.8%
1812	0.249	+0.8%
1813	0.247	-0.8%
1814	0.247	+0.0%
1815	0.247	+0.0%
1816	0.245	-0.8%
1817	0.245	+0.0%
1818	0.247	+0.8%
1819	0.242	-2.0%
1820	0.245	+1.2%
1821	0.243	-0.8%
1822	0.243	+0.0%
1823	0.243	+0.0%
1824	0.243	+0.0%
1825	0.25	+2.9%
1826	0.255	+2.0%
1827	0.252	-1.2%
1828	0.252	+0.0%
1829	0.251	-0.4%
1830	0.261	+4.0%
1831	0.261	+0.0%
1832	0.265	+1.5%
1833	0.272	+2.6%
1834	0.275	+1.1%
1835	0.285	+3.6%
1836	0.282	-1.1%
1837	0.285	+1.1%
1838	0.283	-0.7%
1839	0.286	+1.1%
1840	0.289	+1.0%
1841	0.292	+1.0%
1842	0.289	-1.0%
1843	0.289	+0.0%
1844	0.29	+0.3%
1845	0.29	+0.0%
1846	0.29	+0.0%
1847	0.294	+1.4%
1848	0.291	-1.0%
1849	0.291	+0.0%
1850	0.292	+0.3%
1851	0.293	+0.3%
1852	0.296	+1.0%
1853	0.292	-1.4%
1854	0.292	+0.0%
1855	0.292	+0.0%
1856	0.292	+0.0%
1857	0.295	+1.0%
1858	0.293	-0.7%
1859	0.296	+1.0%
1860	0.293	-1.0%
1861	0.298	+1.7%
1862	0.298	+0.0%
1863	0.298	+0.0%
1864	0.298	+0.0%
1865	0.305	+2.3%
1866	0.305	+0.0%
1867	0.314	+3.0%
1868	0.318	+1.3%
1869	0.314	-1.3%
1870	0.318	+1.3%
1871	0.319	+0.3%
1872	0.319	+0.0%
1873	0.321	+0.6%
1874	0.33	+2.8%
1875	0.328	-0.6%
1876	0.328	+0.0%
1877	0.328	+0.0%
1878	0.328	+0.0%
1879	0.328	+0.0%
1880	0.339	+3.4%
1881	0.339	+0.0%
1882	0.339	+0.0%
1883	0.348	+2.7%
1884	0.368	+5.7%
1885	0.37	+0.5%
1886	0.386	+4.3%
1887	0.388	+0.5%
1888	0.388	+0.0%
1889	0.388	+0.0%
1890	0.388	+0.0%
1891	0.388	+0.0%
1892	0.393	+1.3%
1893	0.402	+2.3%
1894	0.402	+0.0%
1895	0.399	-0.7%
1896	0.402	+0.8%
1897	0.402	+0.0%
1898	0.405	+0.7%
1899	0.405	+0.0%
1900	0.412	+1.7%
1901	0.416	+1.0%
1902	0.416	+0.0%
1903	0.416	+0.0%
1904	0.416	+0.0%
1905	0.416	+0.0%
1906	0.415	-0.2%
1907	0.415	+0.0%
1908	0.415	+0.0%
1909	0.415	+0.0%
1910	0.416	+0.2%
1911	0.417	+0.2%
1912	0.417	+0.0%
1913	0.417	+0.0%
1914	0.406	-2.6%
1915	0.405	-0.2%
1916	0.403	-0.5%
1917	0.403	+0.0%
1918	0.403	+0.0%
1919	0.231	-42.7%
1920	0.233	+0.9%
1921	0.32	+37.3%
1922	0.451	+40.9%
1923	0.518	+14.9%
1924	0.6	+15.8%
1925	0.606	+1.0%
1926	0.61	+0.7%
1927	0.614	+0.7%
1928	0.625	+1.8%
1929	0.626	+0.2%
1930	0.626	+0.0%
1931	0.626	+0.0%
1932	0.636	+1.6%
1933	0.638	+0.3%
1934	0.638	+0.0%
1935	0.641	+0.5%
1936	0.649	+1.2%
1937	0.651	+0.3%
1938	0.646	-0.8%
1939	0.634	-1.9%
1940	0.634	+0.0%
1941	0.634	+0.0%
1942	0.634	+0.0%
1943	0.637	+0.5%
1944	0.639	+0.3%
1945	0.641	+0.3%
1946	0.657	+2.5%
1947	0.657	+0.0%
1948	0.655	-0.3%
1949	0.663	+1.2%
1950	0.666	+0.5%
1951	0.666	+0.0%
1952	0.67	+0.6%
1953	0.67	+0.0%
1954	0.669	-0.1%
1955	0.669	+0.0%
1956	0.669	+0.0%
1957	0.67	+0.1%
1958	0.672	+0.3%
1959	0.673	+0.1%
1960	0.677	+0.6%
1961	0.683	+0.9%
1962	0.695	+1.8%
1963	0.696	+0.1%
1964	0.706	+1.4%
1965	0.703	-0.4%
1966	0.704	+0.1%
1967	0.706	+0.3%
1968	0.706	+0.0%
1969	0.703	-0.4%
1970	0.711	+1.1%
1971	0.711	+0.0%
1972	0.711	+0.0%
1973	0.711	+0.0%
1974	0.728	+2.4%
1975	0.728	+0.0%
1976	0.728	+0.0%
1977	0.728	+0.0%
1978	0.728	+0.0%
1979	0.728	+0.0%
1980	0.728	+0.0%
1981	0.734	+0.8%
1982	0.73	-0.5%
1983	0.734	+0.5%
1984	0.738	+0.5%
1985	0.742	+0.5%
1986	0.746	+0.5%
1987	0.754	+1.1%
1988	0.755	+0.1%
1989	0.752	-0.4%
1990	0.76	+1.1%
1991	0.779	+2.5%
1992	0.782	+0.4%
1993	0.788	+0.8%
1994	0.788	+0.0%
1995	0.789	+0.1%
1996	0.793	+0.5%
1997	0.802	+1.1%
1998	0.804	+0.2%
1999	0.804	+0.0%
2000	0.809	+0.6%
2001	0.809	+0.0%
2002	0.807	-0.2%
2003	0.806	-0.1%
2004	0.806	+0.0%
2005	0.806	+0.0%
2006	0.806	+0.0%
2007	0.815	+1.1%
2008	0.82	+0.6%
2009	0.82	+0.0%
2010	0.82	+0.0%
2011	0.821	+0.1%
2012	0.822	+0.1%
2013	0.823	+0.1%
2014	0.824	+0.1%
2015	0.825	+0.1%
2016	0.815	-1.2%
2017	0.821	+0.7%
2018	0.821	+0.0%
2019	0.822	+0.1%
2020	0.824	+0.2%
2021	0.833	+1.1%
2022	0.827	-0.7%
2023	0.829	+0.2%
2024	0.83	+0.1%
2025	0.822	-1.0%

Ireland compared with similar countries

Ireland's 0.822 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.689, 1.2× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Ireland's 0.822 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.591, 1.4× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Liberal Democracy Index in Ireland 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
1919	-42.7%	0.403	0.231
1922	+40.9%	0.32	0.451
1921	+37.3%	0.233	0.32

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.229	0.229	0.229	1
1790s	0.244	0.239	0.248	10
1800s	0.2475	0.246	0.249	10
1810s	0.2465	0.242	0.249	10
1820s	0.2477	0.243	0.255	10
1830s	0.2755	0.261	0.286	10
1840s	0.2905	0.289	0.294	10
1850s	0.2933	0.292	0.296	10
1860s	0.3041	0.293	0.318	10
1870s	0.3247	0.318	0.33	10
1880s	0.3653	0.339	0.388	10
1890s	0.3986	0.388	0.405	10
1900s	0.4152	0.412	0.416	10
1910s	0.3918	0.231	0.417	10
1920s	0.5203	0.233	0.626	10
1930s	0.6385	0.626	0.651	10
1940s	0.6451	0.634	0.663	10
1950s	0.6694	0.666	0.673	10
1960s	0.6979	0.677	0.706	10
1970s	0.7212	0.711	0.728	10
1980s	0.7413	0.728	0.755	10
1990s	0.7889	0.76	0.804	10
2000s	0.8104	0.806	0.82	10
2010s	0.8214	0.815	0.825	10
2020s	0.8275	0.822	0.833	6

Countries ranked near Ireland

3 Norway 0.847 compare
4 Switzerland 0.843 compare
5 Estonia 0.837 compare
7 Costa Rica 0.809 compare
8 Finland 0.808 compare
9 France 0.8 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Ireland

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 137,869 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 69 (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 69 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0251 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)

All data for Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is liberal democracy index in Ireland?: Liberal democracy index in Ireland was 0.822 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest liberal democracy index recorded in Ireland?: The highest recorded value was 0.833 in 2021.
What is the lowest liberal democracy index recorded in Ireland?: The lowest recorded value was 0.229 in 1789.
How does Ireland rank for liberal democracy index?: Ireland ranks 6th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is liberal democracy index rising or falling in Ireland?: Over the last ten years it is down 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ireland data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Liberal Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Liberal Democracy Index in Ireland. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/liberal-democracy-index/ireland/

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About this data

Indicator: Liberal Democracy Index
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: 18 September 2026

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.