Bulgaria vs USSR: Democracy

Bulgaria
7
in 2025
USSR
3
in 1990
Bulgaria rank
1st
USSR rank
1st

Democracy over time

  • Bulgaria
  • USSR
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How they compare

Bulgaria currently reports 7 against 3 in USSR, a difference of 4.

That makes Bulgaria's figure about 2.3 times USSR's.

The two have swapped places 6 times across 69 shared years of data; in 1922 it was Bulgaria ahead.

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

Bulgaria has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Bulgaria USSR Difference Ahead
1920s 3 1 2 Bulgaria
1930s 2.2 1 1.2 Bulgaria
1940s 2.1 1 1.1 Bulgaria
1950s 1 1 0
1960s 1 1 0
1970s 1 1 0
1980s 1 1 0
1990s 6 3 3 Bulgaria

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher democracy, Bulgaria or USSR?
Bulgaria, at 7 against 3 in USSR as of 2025.
What is the difference in democracy between Bulgaria and USSR?
4, with Bulgaria ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Bulgaria and USSR?
69 years are reported by both, from 1922 to 1990.
How do Bulgaria and USSR rank globally for democracy?
Bulgaria ranks 1st and USSR 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).