Australia vs Sweden: Democracy

Australia
7
in 2025
Sweden
7
in 2025
Australia rank
1st
Sweden rank
1st

Democracy over time

  • Australia
  • Sweden
02468178919072025

How they compare

Australia currently reports 7 against 7 in Sweden, a difference of 0.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was Sweden ahead.

Australia ranks 1st and Sweden ranks 1st of 197 countries.

Across the 25 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 8 and Sweden in 5.

Head to head by decade

Decade Australia Sweden Difference Ahead
1780s 0 0 0
1790s 0 0 0
1800s 0 0.2 0.2 Sweden
1810s 0 2 2 Sweden
1820s 0 2 2 Sweden
1830s 0 2 2 Sweden
1840s 1.4 2 0.6 Sweden
1850s 2 2 0
1860s 3 2 1 Australia
1870s 4 2 2 Australia
1880s 4 2 2 Australia
1890s 4.4 2 2.4 Australia
1900s 6.8 2 4.8 Australia
1910s 6.5 2.8 3.7 Australia
1920s 7 6.8 0.2 Australia
1930s 6.9 6.3 0.6 Australia
1940s 6.4 6.4 0
1950s 7 7 0
1960s 7 7 0
1970s 7 7 0
1980s 7 7 0
1990s 7 7 0
2000s 7 7 0
2010s 7 7 0
2020s 7 7 0

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher democracy, Australia or Sweden?
Australia, at 7 against 7 in Sweden as of 2025.
What is the difference in democracy between Australia and Sweden?
0, with Australia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and Sweden?
237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
How do Australia and Sweden rank globally for democracy?
Australia ranks 1st and Sweden ranks 1st of 197 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Lexical Index (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

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
198 places, 32,485 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies (score 0), one-party autocracies (score 1), multi-party autocracies without elected executive (score 2), multi-party autocracies (score 3), exclusive democracies (score 4), male democracies (score 5), electoral democracies (score 6), and full democracies (score 7).