Varieties of democracy in Iran
Iran: Varieties of democracy was 0.159 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.159
Change on year
down 4.2%
World rank
152nd
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.234
in 1999
All-time low
0.029
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Varieties of democracy in Iran, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for varieties of democracy in Iran is 0.159, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 4.2% on the previous year and down 14.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, varieties of democracy in Iran peaked at 0.234 in 1999 and was at its lowest, 0.029, in 1900.
That places Iran 152nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Varieties of democracy in Iran, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.029 | — |
| 1901 | 0.029 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.029 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.029 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.029 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.029 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.08 | +175.9% |
| 1907 | 0.121 | +51.2% |
| 1908 | 0.118 | -2.5% |
| 1909 | 0.106 | -10.2% |
| 1910 | 0.137 | +29.2% |
| 1911 | 0.136 | -0.7% |
| 1912 | 0.121 | -11.0% |
| 1913 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.121 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.088 | -27.3% |
| 1922 | 0.145 | +64.8% |
| 1923 | 0.113 | -22.1% |
| 1924 | 0.115 | +1.8% |
| 1925 | 0.08 | -30.4% |
| 1926 | 0.056 | -30.0% |
| 1927 | 0.115 | +105.4% |
| 1928 | 0.115 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.115 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.115 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.115 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.114 | -0.9% |
| 1933 | 0.113 | -0.9% |
| 1934 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 0.1 | -11.5% |
| 1942 | 0.122 | +22.0% |
| 1943 | 0.127 | +4.1% |
| 1944 | 0.158 | +24.4% |
| 1945 | 0.164 | +3.8% |
| 1946 | 0.161 | -1.8% |
| 1947 | 0.161 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0.159 | -1.2% |
| 1949 | 0.159 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.156 | -1.9% |
| 1951 | 0.185 | +18.6% |
| 1952 | 0.205 | +10.8% |
| 1953 | 0.118 | -42.4% |
| 1954 | 0.058 | -50.8% |
| 1955 | 0.102 | +75.9% |
| 1956 | 0.057 | -44.1% |
| 1957 | 0.058 | +1.8% |
| 1958 | 0.058 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.058 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.061 | +5.2% |
| 1961 | 0.061 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.06 | -1.6% |
| 1963 | 0.061 | +1.7% |
| 1964 | 0.109 | +78.7% |
| 1965 | 0.11 | +0.9% |
| 1966 | 0.11 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 0.11 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 0.111 | +0.9% |
| 1969 | 0.111 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.113 | +1.8% |
| 1971 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.113 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.107 | -5.3% |
| 1976 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.107 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.11 | +2.8% |
| 1979 | 0.159 | +44.5% |
| 1980 | 0.167 | +5.0% |
| 1981 | 0.121 | -27.5% |
| 1982 | 0.106 | -12.4% |
| 1983 | 0.104 | -1.9% |
| 1984 | 0.108 | +3.8% |
| 1985 | 0.109 | +0.9% |
| 1986 | 0.109 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.171 | +56.9% |
| 1988 | 0.177 | +3.5% |
| 1989 | 0.168 | -5.1% |
| 1990 | 0.16 | -4.8% |
| 1991 | 0.16 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.159 | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 0.162 | +1.9% |
| 1994 | 0.165 | +1.9% |
| 1995 | 0.165 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.174 | +5.5% |
| 1997 | 0.218 | +25.3% |
| 1998 | 0.231 | +6.0% |
| 1999 | 0.234 | +1.3% |
| 2000 | 0.233 | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 0.234 | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 0.232 | -0.9% |
| 2003 | 0.232 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.207 | -10.8% |
| 2005 | 0.177 | -14.5% |
| 2006 | 0.173 | -2.3% |
| 2007 | 0.173 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.167 | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 0.158 | -5.4% |
| 2010 | 0.144 | -8.9% |
| 2011 | 0.145 | +0.7% |
| 2012 | 0.158 | +9.0% |
| 2013 | 0.174 | +10.1% |
| 2014 | 0.183 | +5.2% |
| 2015 | 0.186 | +1.6% |
| 2016 | 0.186 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.185 | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 0.182 | -1.6% |
| 2019 | 0.181 | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 0.165 | -8.8% |
| 2021 | 0.158 | -4.2% |
| 2022 | 0.148 | -6.3% |
| 2023 | 0.153 | +3.4% |
| 2024 | 0.166 | +8.5% |
| 2025 | 0.159 | -4.2% |
Iran compared with similar countries
- Iran's 0.159 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.491, 32% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Iran's 0.159 is below the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 0.187, 85% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Varieties of democracy in Iran 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 | +175.9% | 0.029 | 0.08 |
| 1927 | +105.4% | 0.056 | 0.115 |
| 1964 | +78.7% | 0.061 | 0.109 |
| 1955 | +75.9% | 0.058 | 0.102 |
| 1922 | +64.8% | 0.088 | 0.145 |
| 1987 | +56.9% | 0.109 | 0.171 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.0599 | 0.029 | 0.121 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.1241 | 0.121 | 0.137 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.1063 | 0.056 | 0.145 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.1135 | 0.113 | 0.115 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.1424 | 0.1 | 0.164 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.1055 | 0.057 | 0.205 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.0904 | 0.06 | 0.111 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.1155 | 0.107 | 0.159 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.134 | 0.104 | 0.177 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.1828 | 0.159 | 0.234 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.1986 | 0.158 | 0.234 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.1724 | 0.144 | 0.186 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1582 | 0.148 | 0.166 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iran
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 varieties of democracy in Iran?
- Varieties of democracy in Iran was 0.159 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest varieties of democracy recorded in Iran?
- The highest recorded value was 0.234 in 1999.
- What is the lowest varieties of democracy recorded in Iran?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.029 in 1900.
- How does Iran rank for varieties of democracy?
- Iran ranks 152nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is varieties of democracy rising or falling in Iran?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iran 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
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.