Bulgaria vs Romania: Democracy

Bulgaria
7
in 2025
Romania
7
in 2025
Bulgaria rank
1st
Romania rank
1st

Democracy over time

  • Bulgaria
  • Romania
02468178919072025

How they compare

Bulgaria currently reports 7 against 7 in Romania, a difference of 0.

The two have swapped places 14 times across 148 shared years of data; in 1878 it was Romania ahead.

Bulgaria ranks 1st and Romania ranks 1st of 197 countries.

Across the 16 decades both report, Bulgaria averaged higher in 5 and Romania in 3.

Head to head by decade

Decade Bulgaria Romania Difference Ahead
1870s 1 2 1 Romania
1880s 1.7 2 0.3 Romania
1890s 2 2 0
1900s 2 2 0
1910s 2.1 2.3 0.2 Romania
1920s 3 2.6 0.4 Bulgaria
1930s 2.2 1.9 0.3 Bulgaria
1940s 2.1 0.6 1.5 Bulgaria
1950s 1 1 0
1960s 1 1 0
1970s 1 1 0
1980s 1 1 0
1990s 6 5.4 0.6 Bulgaria
2000s 6.9 6.4 0.5 Bulgaria
2010s 7 7 0
2020s 7 7 0

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher democracy, Bulgaria or Romania?
Bulgaria, at 7 against 7 in Romania as of 2025.
What is the difference in democracy between Bulgaria and Romania?
0, with Bulgaria ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Bulgaria and Romania?
148 years are reported by both, from 1878 to 2025.
How do Bulgaria and Romania rank globally for democracy?
Bulgaria ranks 1st and Romania 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).