Portugal vs South Africa: Democracy
Portugal
4
in 2025
South Africa
4
in 2025
Portugal rank
17th
South Africa rank
17th
Democracy over time
- Portugal
- South Africa
How they compare
Portugal currently reports 4 against 4 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was South Africa ahead.
Portugal ranks 17th and South Africa ranks 17th of 175 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Portugal averaged higher in 4 and South Africa in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Portugal | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 1.3 | 1 | 0.3 | Portugal |
| 1920s | 0.8 | 1 | 0.2 | South Africa |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 3.2 | 1 | 2.2 | Portugal |
| 1980s | 4.4 | 1.1 | 3.3 | Portugal |
| 1990s | 4 | 3.5 | 0.5 | Portugal |
| 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, Portugal or South Africa?
- Portugal, at 4 against 4 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Portugal and South Africa?
- 0, with Portugal ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Portugal and South Africa?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Portugal and South Africa rank globally for democracy?
- Portugal 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).