Estonia vs USSR: Democracy
Democracy over time
- Estonia
- USSR
How they compare
Estonia currently reports 7 against 3 in USSR, a difference of 4.
That makes Estonia's figure about 2.3 times USSR's.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 69 shared years of data; in 1922 it was Estonia ahead.
Estonia ranks 1st and USSR ranks 1st of 197 countries.
Estonia has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Estonia | USSR | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 6 | 1 | 5 | Estonia |
| 1930s | 3 | 1 | 2 | Estonia |
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, Estonia or USSR?
- Estonia, at 7 against 3 in USSR as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Estonia and USSR?
- 4, with Estonia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Estonia and USSR?
- 69 years are reported by both, from 1922 to 1990.
- How do Estonia and USSR rank globally for democracy?
- Estonia 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
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).