Belgium vs Netherlands: Democracy
Belgium
9
in 2025
Netherlands
9
in 2025
Belgium rank
1st
Netherlands rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Belgium
- Netherlands
How they compare
Belgium currently reports 9 against 9 in Netherlands, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was Netherlands ahead.
Belgium ranks 1st and Netherlands ranks 1st of 176 countries.
Across the 25 decades both report, Belgium averaged higher in 4 and Netherlands in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Belgium | Netherlands | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1790s | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0 | — |
| 1800s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1810s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1820s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1830s | 2.4 | 0 | 2.4 | Belgium |
| 1840s | 3 | 0.6 | 2.4 | Belgium |
| 1850s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 1860s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 1880s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 1890s | 3.6 | 3 | 0.6 | Belgium |
| 1900s | 8 | 3 | 5 | Belgium |
| 1910s | 3.4 | 4.1 | 0.7 | Netherlands |
| 1920s | 7.5 | 8 | 0.5 | Netherlands |
| 1930s | 8 | 8 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 3.2 | 3.5 | 0.3 | Netherlands |
| 1950s | 8 | 9 | 1 | Netherlands |
| 1960s | 8.7 | 9 | 0.3 | Netherlands |
| 1970s | 9 | 9 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 9 | 9 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 9 | 9 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 9 | 9 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 9 | 9 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 9 | 9 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, Belgium or Netherlands?
- Belgium, at 9 against 9 in Netherlands as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Belgium and Netherlands?
- 0, with Belgium ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Netherlands?
- 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do Belgium and Netherlands rank globally for democracy?
- Belgium ranks 1st and Netherlands ranks 1st of 176 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg, including ambiguous categories.