Namibia vs South Africa: Free and fair elections

Namibia
1
in 2025
South Africa
1
in 2025
Namibia rank
1st
South Africa rank
1st

Free and fair elections over time

  • Namibia
  • South Africa
00.20.40.60.81191019672025

How they compare

Namibia currently reports 1 against 1 in South Africa, a difference of 0.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 95 shared years of data; in 1926 it was South Africa ahead.

Namibia ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 172 countries.

Namibia has averaged higher in every one of the 11 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Namibia South Africa Difference Ahead
1920s 0 0 0
1930s 0 0 0
1940s 0 0 0
1950s 0 0 0
1960s 0 0 0
1970s 0 0 0
1980s 0.2 0 0.2 Namibia
1990s 1 0.6 0.4 Namibia
2000s 1 1 0
2010s 1 1 0
2020s 1 1 0

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher free and fair elections, Namibia or South Africa?
Namibia, at 1 against 1 in South Africa as of 2025.
What is the difference in free and fair elections between Namibia and South Africa?
0, with Namibia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Namibia and South Africa?
95 years are reported by both, from 1926 to 2025.
How do Namibia and South Africa rank globally for free and fair elections?
Namibia ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 172 countries.
Where does this data come from?
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Free and fair elections. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Free and fair elections
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
172 places, 17,000 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate of whether national elections were free and fair or not.