What is participatory democracy index in Spain?

Participatory democracy index in Spain was 0.572 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest participatory democracy index recorded in Spain?

The highest recorded value was 0.673 in 1986.

What is the lowest participatory democracy index recorded in Spain?

The lowest recorded value was 0.013 in 1940.

How does Spain rank for participatory democracy index?

Spain ranks 20th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is participatory democracy index rising or falling in Spain?

Over the last ten years it is down 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

Where does this Spain data come from?

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

Participatory Democracy Index in Spain

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

Spain: Participatory Democracy Index was 0.572 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)

0.572

Change on year

down 0.3%

World rank

20th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.673

in 1986

All-time low

0.013

in 1940

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Participatory Democracy Index in Spain, 1789–2025

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for participatory democracy index in Spain is 0.572, measured in 2025.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.3% on the previous year and down 6.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, participatory democracy index in Spain peaked at 0.673 in 1986 and was at its lowest, 0.013, in 1940.

That places Spain 20th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Participatory Democracy Index in Spain, year by year

Annual values for Participatory Democracy Index in Spain, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.028	—
1790	0.028	+0.0%
1791	0.028	+0.0%
1792	0.028	+0.0%
1793	0.028	+0.0%
1794	0.028	+0.0%
1795	0.028	+0.0%
1796	0.028	+0.0%
1797	0.028	+0.0%
1798	0.028	+0.0%
1799	0.028	+0.0%
1800	0.028	+0.0%
1801	0.028	+0.0%
1802	0.028	+0.0%
1803	0.028	+0.0%
1804	0.028	+0.0%
1805	0.028	+0.0%
1806	0.028	+0.0%
1807	0.028	+0.0%
1808	0.037	+32.1%
1809	0.038	+2.7%
1810	0.038	+0.0%
1811	0.038	+0.0%
1812	0.059	+55.3%
1813	0.067	+13.6%
1814	0.054	-19.4%
1815	0.049	-9.3%
1816	0.049	+0.0%
1817	0.049	+0.0%
1818	0.049	+0.0%
1819	0.049	+0.0%
1820	0.094	+91.8%
1821	0.097	+3.2%
1822	0.098	+1.0%
1823	0.093	-5.1%
1824	0.05	-46.2%
1825	0.05	+0.0%
1826	0.05	+0.0%
1827	0.05	+0.0%
1828	0.05	+0.0%
1829	0.05	+0.0%
1830	0.05	+0.0%
1831	0.05	+0.0%
1832	0.05	+0.0%
1833	0.05	+0.0%
1834	0.068	+36.0%
1835	0.066	-2.9%
1836	0.079	+19.7%
1837	0.083	+5.1%
1838	0.086	+3.6%
1839	0.086	+0.0%
1840	0.09	+4.7%
1841	0.08	-11.1%
1842	0.08	+0.0%
1843	0.08	+0.0%
1844	0.08	+0.0%
1845	0.08	+0.0%
1846	0.079	-1.3%
1847	0.079	+0.0%
1848	0.078	-1.3%
1849	0.078	+0.0%
1850	0.078	+0.0%
1851	0.078	+0.0%
1852	0.078	+0.0%
1853	0.079	+1.3%
1854	0.081	+2.5%
1855	0.083	+2.5%
1856	0.083	+0.0%
1857	0.079	-4.8%
1858	0.079	+0.0%
1859	0.08	+1.3%
1860	0.08	+0.0%
1861	0.08	+0.0%
1862	0.08	+0.0%
1863	0.08	+0.0%
1864	0.08	+0.0%
1865	0.08	+0.0%
1866	0.08	+0.0%
1867	0.079	-1.3%
1868	0.084	+6.3%
1869	0.119	+41.7%
1870	0.119	+0.0%
1871	0.119	+0.0%
1872	0.119	+0.0%
1873	0.119	+0.0%
1874	0.099	-16.8%
1875	0.092	-7.1%
1876	0.092	+0.0%
1877	0.092	+0.0%
1878	0.092	+0.0%
1879	0.087	-5.4%
1880	0.088	+1.1%
1881	0.089	+1.1%
1882	0.092	+3.4%
1883	0.092	+0.0%
1884	0.092	+0.0%
1885	0.092	+0.0%
1886	0.092	+0.0%
1887	0.092	+0.0%
1888	0.092	+0.0%
1889	0.092	+0.0%
1890	0.092	+0.0%
1891	0.098	+6.5%
1892	0.098	+0.0%
1893	0.098	+0.0%
1894	0.097	-1.0%
1895	0.088	-9.3%
1896	0.089	+1.1%
1897	0.089	+0.0%
1898	0.088	-1.1%
1899	0.092	+4.5%
1900	0.092	+0.0%
1901	0.091	-1.1%
1902	0.09	-1.1%
1903	0.091	+1.1%
1904	0.091	+0.0%
1905	0.091	+0.0%
1906	0.091	+0.0%
1907	0.091	+0.0%
1908	0.091	+0.0%
1909	0.091	+0.0%
1910	0.091	+0.0%
1911	0.09	-1.1%
1912	0.09	+0.0%
1913	0.09	+0.0%
1914	0.09	+0.0%
1915	0.09	+0.0%
1916	0.09	+0.0%
1917	0.09	+0.0%
1918	0.09	+0.0%
1919	0.09	+0.0%
1920	0.09	+0.0%
1921	0.09	+0.0%
1922	0.09	+0.0%
1923	0.042	-53.3%
1924	0.038	-9.5%
1925	0.023	-39.5%
1926	0.023	+0.0%
1927	0.023	+0.0%
1928	0.023	+0.0%
1929	0.023	+0.0%
1930	0.024	+4.3%
1931	0.187	+679.2%
1932	0.315	+68.4%
1933	0.314	-0.3%
1934	0.311	-1.0%
1935	0.311	+0.0%
1936	0.266	-14.5%
1937	0.204	-23.3%
1938	0.197	-3.4%
1939	0.094	-52.3%
1940	0.013	-86.2%
1941	0.013	+0.0%
1942	0.013	+0.0%
1943	0.013	+0.0%
1944	0.013	+0.0%
1945	0.015	+15.4%
1946	0.015	+0.0%
1947	0.03	+100.0%
1948	0.03	+0.0%
1949	0.03	+0.0%
1950	0.03	+0.0%
1951	0.03	+0.0%
1952	0.029	-3.3%
1953	0.028	-3.4%
1954	0.027	-3.6%
1955	0.026	-3.7%
1956	0.025	-3.8%
1957	0.024	-4.0%
1958	0.023	-4.2%
1959	0.022	-4.3%
1960	0.021	-4.5%
1961	0.02	-4.8%
1962	0.019	-5.0%
1963	0.018	-5.3%
1964	0.017	-5.6%
1965	0.016	-5.9%
1966	0.016	+0.0%
1967	0.017	+6.3%
1968	0.019	+11.8%
1969	0.019	+0.0%
1970	0.019	+0.0%
1971	0.019	+0.0%
1972	0.02	+5.3%
1973	0.02	+0.0%
1974	0.024	+20.0%
1975	0.024	+0.0%
1976	0.04	+66.7%
1977	0.156	+290.0%
1978	0.36	+130.8%
1979	0.596	+65.6%
1980	0.607	+1.8%
1981	0.614	+1.2%
1982	0.636	+3.6%
1983	0.647	+1.7%
1984	0.647	+0.0%
1985	0.645	-0.3%
1986	0.673	+4.3%
1987	0.672	-0.1%
1988	0.671	-0.1%
1989	0.669	-0.3%
1990	0.668	-0.1%
1991	0.664	-0.6%
1992	0.66	-0.6%
1993	0.657	-0.5%
1994	0.653	-0.6%
1995	0.649	-0.6%
1996	0.647	-0.3%
1997	0.643	-0.6%
1998	0.639	-0.6%
1999	0.636	-0.5%
2000	0.633	-0.5%
2001	0.631	-0.3%
2002	0.629	-0.3%
2003	0.611	-2.9%
2004	0.609	-0.3%
2005	0.641	+5.3%
2006	0.64	-0.2%
2007	0.638	-0.3%
2008	0.646	+1.3%
2009	0.65	+0.6%
2010	0.65	+0.0%
2011	0.651	+0.2%
2012	0.641	-1.5%
2013	0.626	-2.3%
2014	0.626	+0.0%
2015	0.612	-2.2%
2016	0.603	-1.5%
2017	0.586	-2.8%
2018	0.601	+2.6%
2019	0.621	+3.3%
2020	0.624	+0.5%
2021	0.601	-3.7%
2022	0.612	+1.8%
2023	0.593	-3.1%
2024	0.574	-3.2%
2025	0.572	-0.3%

Spain compared with similar countries

Spain's 0.572 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.529, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Spain's 0.572 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.4995, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Participatory Democracy Index in Spain 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
1931	+679.2%	0.024	0.187
1977	+290.0%	0.04	0.156
1978	+130.8%	0.156	0.36
1947	+100.0%	0.015	0.03
1820	+91.8%	0.049	0.094
1940	-86.2%	0.094	0.013

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.028	0.028	0.028	1
1790s	0.028	0.028	0.028	10
1800s	0.0299	0.028	0.038	10
1810s	0.0501	0.038	0.067	10
1820s	0.0682	0.05	0.098	10
1830s	0.0668	0.05	0.086	10
1840s	0.0804	0.078	0.09	10
1850s	0.0798	0.078	0.083	10
1860s	0.0842	0.079	0.119	10
1870s	0.103	0.087	0.119	10
1880s	0.0913	0.088	0.092	10
1890s	0.0929	0.088	0.098	10
1900s	0.091	0.09	0.092	10
1910s	0.0901	0.09	0.091	10
1920s	0.0465	0.023	0.09	10
1930s	0.2223	0.024	0.315	10
1940s	0.0185	0.013	0.03	10
1950s	0.0264	0.022	0.03	10
1960s	0.0182	0.016	0.021	10
1970s	0.1278	0.019	0.596	10
1980s	0.6481	0.607	0.673	10
1990s	0.6516	0.636	0.668	10
2000s	0.6328	0.609	0.65	10
2010s	0.6217	0.586	0.651	10
2020s	0.596	0.572	0.624	6

Countries ranked near Spain

17 Austria 0.582 compare
18 New Zealand 0.581 compare
19 Chile 0.574 compare
21 Italy 0.569 compare
22 Iceland 0.565 compare
23 Czechia 0.562 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Spain

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 511,079 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 186 (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 186 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0104 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 Spain →

Frequently asked questions

What is participatory democracy index in Spain?: Participatory democracy index in Spain was 0.572 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest participatory democracy index recorded in Spain?: The highest recorded value was 0.673 in 1986.
What is the lowest participatory democracy index recorded in Spain?: The lowest recorded value was 0.013 in 1940.
How does Spain rank for participatory democracy index?: Spain ranks 20th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is participatory democracy index rising or falling in Spain?: Over the last ten years it is down 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Spain data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Participatory Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Participatory Democracy Index in Spain. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/participatory-democracy-index/spain/

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About this data

Indicator: Participatory Democracy Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 29,363 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, as well as the extent to which citizens can engage in regional and local government, civil society organizations, and direct democracy.