Iran vs North Korea: Democracy
Iran
1
in 2025
North Korea
1
in 2025
Iran rank
90th
North Korea rank
90th
Democracy over time
- Iran
- North Korea
How they compare
Iran currently reports 1 against 1 in North Korea, a difference of 0.
Across all 81 years both countries report, North Korea has been ahead every year.
Iran ranks 90th and North Korea ranks 90th of 175 countries.
North Korea has averaged higher in every one of the 9 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iran | North Korea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 0.8 | 1 | 0.2 | North Korea |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 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 democracy, Iran or North Korea?
- Iran, at 1 against 1 in North Korea as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Iran and North Korea?
- 0, with Iran ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iran and North Korea?
- 81 years are reported by both, from 1945 to 2025.
- How do Iran and North Korea rank globally for democracy?
- Iran ranks 90th and North Korea ranks 90th of 175 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Episodes of Regime Transformation (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 classification by the Episodes of Regime Transformation-project. It distinguishes between hardening autocracies (score 0), stable autocracies (score 1), liberalizing autocracies (score 2), eroding democracies (score 3), stable democracies (score 4), and deepening democracies (score 5).