Israel vs South Africa: Democracy
Israel
4
in 2025
South Africa
4
in 2025
Israel rank
17th
South Africa rank
17th
Democracy over time
- Israel
- South Africa
How they compare
Israel currently reports 4 against 4 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 78 shared years of data; in 1948 it was South Africa ahead.
Israel ranks 17th and South Africa ranks 17th of 175 countries.
Across the 9 decades both report, Israel averaged higher in 6 and South Africa in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Israel | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 3 | 1 | 2 | Israel |
| 1950s | 4.5 | 1 | 3.5 | Israel |
| 1960s | 4.4 | 1 | 3.4 | Israel |
| 1970s | 4.5 | 1 | 3.5 | Israel |
| 1980s | 4 | 1.1 | 2.9 | Israel |
| 1990s | 4 | 3.5 | 0.5 | Israel |
| 2000s | 4 | 4.6 | 0.6 | South Africa |
| 2010s | 4 | 4 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 4 | 4 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, Israel or South Africa?
- Israel, at 4 against 4 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Israel and South Africa?
- 0, with Israel ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Israel and South Africa?
- 78 years are reported by both, from 1948 to 2025.
- How do Israel and South Africa rank globally for democracy?
- Israel ranks 17th and South Africa ranks 17th 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).