Liberal democracy in Iran
Iran: Liberal democracy was 1 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
87th
of 176 countries
All-time high
1
in 1986
All-time low
0
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Liberal democracy in Iran, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Iran recorded 1 for liberal democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, liberal democracy in Iran peaked at 1 in 1986 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1900.
Iran ranks 87th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Liberal democracy in Iran, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0 | — |
| 1901 | 0 | — |
| 1902 | 0 | — |
| 1903 | 0 | — |
| 1904 | 0 | — |
| 1905 | 0 | — |
| 1906 | 0 | — |
| 1907 | 0 | — |
| 1908 | 0 | — |
| 1909 | 0 | — |
| 1910 | 0 | — |
| 1911 | 0 | — |
| 1912 | 0 | — |
| 1913 | 0 | — |
| 1914 | 0 | — |
| 1915 | 0 | — |
| 1916 | 0 | — |
| 1917 | 0 | — |
| 1918 | 0 | — |
| 1919 | 0 | — |
| 1920 | 0 | — |
| 1921 | 0 | — |
| 1922 | 0 | — |
| 1923 | 0 | — |
| 1924 | 0 | — |
| 1925 | 0 | — |
| 1926 | 0 | — |
| 1927 | 0 | — |
| 1928 | 0 | — |
| 1929 | 0 | — |
| 1930 | 0 | — |
| 1931 | 0 | — |
| 1932 | 0 | — |
| 1933 | 0 | — |
| 1934 | 0 | — |
| 1935 | 0 | — |
| 1936 | 0 | — |
| 1937 | 0 | — |
| 1938 | 0 | — |
| 1939 | 0 | — |
| 1940 | 0 | — |
| 1941 | 0 | — |
| 1942 | 0 | — |
| 1943 | 0 | — |
| 1944 | 0 | — |
| 1945 | 0 | — |
| 1946 | 0 | — |
| 1947 | 0 | — |
| 1948 | 0 | — |
| 1949 | 0 | — |
| 1950 | 0 | — |
| 1951 | 0 | — |
| 1952 | 0 | — |
| 1953 | 0 | — |
| 1954 | 0 | — |
| 1955 | 0 | — |
| 1956 | 0 | — |
| 1957 | 0 | — |
| 1958 | 0 | — |
| 1959 | 0 | — |
| 1960 | 0 | — |
| 1961 | 0 | — |
| 1962 | 0 | — |
| 1963 | 0 | — |
| 1964 | 0 | — |
| 1965 | 0 | — |
| 1966 | 0 | — |
| 1967 | 0 | — |
| 1968 | 0 | — |
| 1969 | 0 | — |
| 1970 | 0 | — |
| 1971 | 0 | — |
| 1972 | 0 | — |
| 1973 | 0 | — |
| 1974 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | 0 | — |
| 1978 | 0 | — |
| 1979 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | 0 | — |
| 1981 | 0 | — |
| 1982 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | 0 | — |
| 1984 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | 1 | — |
| 1987 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2023 | 0 | — |
| 2024 | 1 | — |
| 2025 | 1 | +0.0% |
Iran compared with similar countries
- Iran's 1 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1, 1.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.4 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6667 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iran
- 87 Albania 1 compare
- 87 Algeria 1 compare
- 87 Angola 1 compare
- 87 Azerbaijan 1 compare
- 87 Benin 1 compare
- 87 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 compare
- 87 Burundi 1 compare
- 87 Cambodia 1 compare
- 87 Cameroon 1 compare
- 87 Central African Republic 1 compare
- 87 Chad 1 compare
- 87 Comoros 1 compare
- 87 Congo 1 compare
- 87 Cote d'Ivoire 1 compare
- 87 Democratic Republic of Congo 1 compare
- 87 Djibouti 1 compare
- 87 Egypt 1 compare
- 87 El Salvador 1 compare
- 87 Equatorial Guinea 1 compare
- 87 Ethiopia 1 compare
- 87 Gabon 1 compare
- 87 Georgia 1 compare
- 87 Hungary 1 compare
- 87 India 1 compare
- 87 Indonesia 1 compare
- 87 Iraq 1 compare
- 87 Kazakhstan 1 compare
- 87 Kyrgyzstan 1 compare
- 87 Lebanon 1 compare
- 87 Mauritania 1 compare
- 87 Mexico 1 compare
- 87 Mozambique 1 compare
- 87 Nicaragua 1 compare
- 87 Pakistan 1 compare
- 87 Papua New Guinea 1 compare
- 87 Philippines 1 compare
- 87 Russia 1 compare
- 87 Rwanda 1 compare
- 87 Serbia 1 compare
- 87 Sierra Leone 1 compare
- 87 Singapore 1 compare
- 87 Tajikistan 1 compare
- 87 Tanzania 1 compare
- 87 Thailand 1 compare
- 87 Togo 1 compare
- 87 Tunisia 1 compare
- 87 Turkey 1 compare
- 87 Turkmenistan 1 compare
- 87 Uganda 1 compare
- 87 Ukraine 1 compare
- 87 Uzbekistan 1 compare
- 87 Venezuela 1 compare
- 87 Zambia 1 compare
- 87 Zimbabwe 1 compare
More social development data for Iran
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 770,514 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 157,912 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 7 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 7 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0017 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 157,912 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0083 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 liberal democracy in Iran?
- Liberal democracy in Iran was 1 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest liberal democracy recorded in Iran?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1986.
- What is the lowest liberal democracy recorded in Iran?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1900.
- How does Iran rank for liberal democracy?
- Iran ranks 87th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is liberal democracy rising or falling in Iran?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Iran data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Liberal 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
Identifies the political regime of a country by distinguishing between closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracies.