Japan vs South Korea: Free and Fair Elections Index
Japan
0.937
in 2025
South Korea
0.935
in 2025
Japan rank
27th
South Korea rank
28th
Free and Fair Elections Index over time
- Japan
- South Korea
How they compare
Japan currently reports 0.937 against 0.935 in South Korea, a difference of 0.002.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was South Korea ahead.
Japan ranks 27th and South Korea ranks 28th of 176 countries.
Across the 25 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 12 and South Korea in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | South Korea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1790s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1800s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1810s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1820s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1830s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1840s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1850s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1860s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1880s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1890s | 0.3645 | 0 | 0.3645 | Japan |
| 1900s | 0.4595 | 0 | 0.4595 | Japan |
| 1910s | 0.4711 | 0 | 0.4711 | Japan |
| 1920s | 0.5679 | 0 | 0.5679 | Japan |
| 1930s | 0.6013 | 0 | 0.6013 | Japan |
| 1940s | 0.6872 | 0.0309 | 0.6563 | Japan |
| 1950s | 0.8989 | 0.1576 | 0.7413 | Japan |
| 1960s | 0.9196 | 0.2333 | 0.6863 | Japan |
| 1970s | 0.9206 | 0.2216 | 0.699 | Japan |
| 1980s | 0.9199 | 0.3765 | 0.5434 | Japan |
| 1990s | 0.9184 | 0.8141 | 0.1043 | Japan |
| 2000s | 0.9254 | 0.9394 | 0.014 | South Korea |
| 2010s | 0.9324 | 0.9284 | 0.004 | Japan |
| 2020s | 0.9405 | 0.9442 | 0.0037 | South Korea |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher free and fair elections index, Japan or South Korea?
- Japan, at 0.937 against 0.935 in South Korea as of 2025.
- What is the difference in free and fair elections index between Japan and South Korea?
- 0.002, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and South Korea?
- 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do Japan and South Korea rank globally for free and fair elections index?
- Japan ranks 27th and South Korea ranks 28th of 176 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Free and Fair Elections Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Central estimate of the extent to which registration fraud, systematic irregularities, government intimidation of the opposition, vote buying, and election violence are absent, and the election management body is autonomous and has enough staff and resources.