What is varieties of democracy in Iceland?

Varieties of democracy in Iceland was 0.807 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest varieties of democracy recorded in Iceland?

The highest recorded value was 0.882 in 2009.

What is the lowest varieties of democracy recorded in Iceland?

The lowest recorded value was 0.346 in 1900.

How does Iceland rank for varieties of democracy?

Iceland ranks 26th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is varieties of democracy rising or falling in Iceland?

Over the last ten years it is down 6.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Iceland data come from?

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

Varieties of democracy in Iceland

Name: Varieties of democracy in Iceland
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Iceland: Varieties of democracy was 0.807 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.807

Change on year

down 4.2%

World rank

26th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.882

in 2009

All-time low

0.346

in 1900

Years of data

126

1900–2025

Varieties of democracy in Iceland, 1900–2025

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for varieties of democracy in Iceland is 0.807, measured in 2025.

That represents a change of down 4.2% on the previous year and down 6.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, varieties of democracy in Iceland peaked at 0.882 in 2009 and was at its lowest, 0.346, in 1900.

That places Iceland 26th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.

Varieties of democracy in Iceland, year by year

Annual values for Varieties of democracy in Iceland, 1900 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1900	0.346	—
1901	0.346	+0.0%
1902	0.346	+0.0%
1903	0.346	+0.0%
1904	0.51	+47.4%
1905	0.554	+8.6%
1906	0.554	+0.0%
1907	0.554	+0.0%
1908	0.554	+0.0%
1909	0.553	-0.2%
1910	0.553	+0.0%
1911	0.553	+0.0%
1912	0.551	-0.4%
1913	0.551	+0.0%
1914	0.553	+0.4%
1915	0.553	+0.0%
1916	0.774	+40.0%
1917	0.775	+0.1%
1918	0.775	+0.0%
1919	0.774	-0.1%
1920	0.77	-0.5%
1921	0.77	+0.0%
1922	0.77	+0.0%
1923	0.77	+0.0%
1924	0.771	+0.1%
1925	0.771	+0.0%
1926	0.771	+0.0%
1927	0.774	+0.4%
1928	0.776	+0.3%
1929	0.776	+0.0%
1930	0.772	-0.5%
1931	0.771	-0.1%
1932	0.77	-0.1%
1933	0.769	-0.1%
1934	0.768	-0.1%
1935	0.788	+2.6%
1936	0.788	+0.0%
1937	0.789	+0.1%
1938	0.789	+0.0%
1939	0.789	+0.0%
1940	0.771	-2.3%
1941	0.771	+0.0%
1942	0.774	+0.4%
1943	0.776	+0.3%
1944	0.784	+1.0%
1945	0.789	+0.6%
1946	0.797	+1.0%
1947	0.795	-0.3%
1948	0.795	+0.0%
1949	0.795	+0.0%
1950	0.798	+0.4%
1951	0.798	+0.0%
1952	0.802	+0.5%
1953	0.806	+0.5%
1954	0.807	+0.1%
1955	0.807	+0.0%
1956	0.807	+0.0%
1957	0.808	+0.1%
1958	0.808	+0.0%
1959	0.808	+0.0%
1960	0.809	+0.1%
1961	0.809	+0.0%
1962	0.809	+0.0%
1963	0.808	-0.1%
1964	0.807	-0.1%
1965	0.807	+0.0%
1966	0.818	+1.4%
1967	0.824	+0.7%
1968	0.824	+0.0%
1969	0.823	-0.1%
1970	0.823	+0.0%
1971	0.825	+0.2%
1972	0.826	+0.1%
1973	0.826	+0.0%
1974	0.826	+0.0%
1975	0.825	-0.1%
1976	0.825	+0.0%
1977	0.825	+0.0%
1978	0.826	+0.1%
1979	0.827	+0.1%
1980	0.849	+2.7%
1981	0.849	+0.0%
1982	0.849	+0.0%
1983	0.845	-0.5%
1984	0.843	-0.2%
1985	0.843	+0.0%
1986	0.852	+1.1%
1987	0.859	+0.8%
1988	0.859	+0.0%
1989	0.859	+0.0%
1990	0.862	+0.3%
1991	0.862	+0.0%
1992	0.862	+0.0%
1993	0.862	+0.0%
1994	0.862	+0.0%
1995	0.862	+0.0%
1996	0.869	+0.8%
1997	0.868	-0.1%
1998	0.868	+0.0%
1999	0.868	+0.0%
2000	0.868	+0.0%
2001	0.868	+0.0%
2002	0.868	+0.0%
2003	0.867	-0.1%
2004	0.867	+0.0%
2005	0.865	-0.2%
2006	0.865	+0.0%
2007	0.873	+0.9%
2008	0.88	+0.8%
2009	0.882	+0.2%
2010	0.881	-0.1%
2011	0.881	+0.0%
2012	0.875	-0.7%
2013	0.858	-1.9%
2014	0.856	-0.2%
2015	0.861	+0.6%
2016	0.86	-0.1%
2017	0.861	+0.1%
2018	0.875	+1.6%
2019	0.859	-1.8%
2020	0.859	+0.0%
2021	0.836	-2.7%
2022	0.832	-0.5%
2023	0.841	+1.1%
2024	0.842	+0.1%
2025	0.807	-4.2%

Iceland compared with similar countries

Iceland's 0.807 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.786, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Iceland's 0.807 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.737, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Varieties of democracy in Iceland 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
1904	+47.4%	0.346	0.51
1916	+40.0%	0.553	0.774

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1900s	0.4663	0.346	0.554	10
1910s	0.6412	0.551	0.775	10
1920s	0.7719	0.77	0.776	10
1930s	0.7793	0.768	0.789	10
1940s	0.7847	0.771	0.797	10
1950s	0.8049	0.798	0.808	10
1960s	0.8138	0.807	0.824	10
1970s	0.8254	0.823	0.827	10
1980s	0.8507	0.843	0.859	10
1990s	0.8645	0.862	0.869	10
2000s	0.8703	0.865	0.882	10
2010s	0.8667	0.856	0.881	10
2020s	0.8362	0.807	0.859	6

Countries ranked near Iceland

24 Japan 0.819 compare
24 South Korea 0.819 compare
27 Jamaica 0.805 compare
28 Taiwan 0.801 compare
29 Barbados 0.797 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Iceland

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 8,459 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 (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 0 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0216 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 Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is varieties of democracy in Iceland?: Varieties of democracy in Iceland was 0.807 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest varieties of democracy recorded in Iceland?: The highest recorded value was 0.882 in 2009.
What is the lowest varieties of democracy recorded in Iceland?: The lowest recorded value was 0.346 in 1900.
How does Iceland rank for varieties of democracy?: Iceland ranks 26th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is varieties of democracy rising or falling in Iceland?: Over the last ten years it is down 6.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Varieties of democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Varieties of democracy in Iceland. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/varieties-democracy-vdem/iceland/

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About this data

Indicator: Varieties 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: 18 September 2026

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.