New Zealand vs South Africa: Democracy
New Zealand
4
in 2025
South Africa
4
in 2025
New Zealand rank
17th
South Africa rank
17th
Democracy over time
- New Zealand
- South Africa
How they compare
New Zealand currently reports 4 against 4 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was New Zealand ahead.
New Zealand ranks 17th and South Africa ranks 17th of 175 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, New Zealand averaged higher in 10 and South Africa in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | New Zealand | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1910s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1920s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1930s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1940s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1950s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1960s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1970s | 4 | 1 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1980s | 4 | 1.1 | 2.9 | New Zealand |
| 1990s | 4 | 3.5 | 0.5 | New Zealand |
| 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, New Zealand or South Africa?
- New Zealand, at 4 against 4 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between New Zealand and South Africa?
- 0, with New Zealand ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for New Zealand and South Africa?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do New Zealand and South Africa rank globally for democracy?
- New Zealand 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).