South Korea vs Malawi: Democracy
South Korea
4
in 2025
Malawi
4
in 2025
South Korea rank
17th
Malawi rank
17th
Democracy over time
- South Korea
- Malawi
How they compare
South Korea currently reports 4 against 4 in Malawi, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was Malawi ahead.
South Korea ranks 17th and Malawi ranks 17th of 175 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, South Korea averaged higher in 4 and Malawi in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | South Korea | Malawi | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 1.5 | 1 | 0.5 | South Korea |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1960s | 1 | 1.5 | 0.5 | Malawi |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 2.5 | 1 | 1.5 | South Korea |
| 1990s | 5 | 2.8 | 2.2 | South Korea |
| 2000s | 3.9 | 0.5 | 3.4 | South Korea |
| 2010s | 3.6 | 4.1 | 0.5 | Malawi |
| 2020s | 3.33 | 4.33 | 1 | Malawi |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, South Korea or Malawi?
- South Korea, at 4 against 4 in Malawi as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between South Korea and Malawi?
- 0, with South Korea ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for South Korea and Malawi?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do South Korea and Malawi rank globally for democracy?
- South Korea ranks 17th and Malawi 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).