France vs Japan: Democracy
France
7
in 2025
Japan
7
in 2025
France rank
1st
Japan rank
1st
Democracy over time
- France
- Japan
How they compare
France currently reports 7 against 7 in Japan, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was Japan ahead.
France ranks 1st and Japan ranks 1st of 197 countries.
France has averaged higher in every one of the 25 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | France | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1790s | 2.1 | 0 | 2.1 | France |
| 1800s | 2 | 0 | 2 | France |
| 1810s | 2 | 0 | 2 | France |
| 1820s | 2 | 0 | 2 | France |
| 1830s | 2 | 0 | 2 | France |
| 1840s | 2.6 | 0 | 2.6 | France |
| 1850s | 2.5 | 0 | 2.5 | France |
| 1860s | 2 | 0 | 2 | France |
| 1870s | 5 | 0 | 5 | France |
| 1880s | 5 | 0 | 5 | France |
| 1890s | 5 | 2 | 3 | France |
| 1900s | 5 | 2 | 3 | France |
| 1910s | 5 | 2.4 | 2.6 | France |
| 1920s | 5 | 4.5 | 0.5 | France |
| 1930s | 5 | 3 | 2 | France |
| 1940s | 2.8 | 0.5 | 2.3 | France |
| 1950s | 7 | 5.4 | 1.6 | France |
| 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, France or Japan?
- France, at 7 against 7 in Japan as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between France and Japan?
- 0, with France ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for France and Japan?
- 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do France and Japan rank globally for democracy?
- France ranks 1st and Japan 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).