Iceland vs Japan: Democracy
Iceland
9
in 2025
Japan
9
in 2025
Iceland rank
1st
Japan rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Iceland
- Japan
How they compare
Iceland currently reports 9 against 9 in Japan, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was Japan ahead.
Iceland ranks 1st and Japan ranks 1st of 176 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Iceland averaged higher in 6 and Japan in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 4 | 0 | 4 | Iceland |
| 1910s | 7 | 0 | 7 | Iceland |
| 1920s | 8 | 0 | 8 | Iceland |
| 1930s | 7 | 0 | 7 | Iceland |
| 1940s | 7.6 | 0.2 | 7.4 | Iceland |
| 1950s | 8 | 7.1 | 0.9 | Iceland |
| 1960s | 8 | 9 | 1 | Japan |
| 1970s | 8 | 9 | 1 | Japan |
| 1980s | 8 | 9 | 1 | Japan |
| 1990s | 8.5 | 9 | 0.5 | Japan |
| 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, Iceland or Japan?
- Iceland, at 9 against 9 in Japan as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Iceland and Japan?
- 0, with Iceland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and Japan?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Iceland and Japan rank globally for democracy?
- Iceland ranks 1st and Japan 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.