France vs Switzerland: Democracy

France
7
in 2025
Switzerland
7
in 2025
France rank
1st
Switzerland rank
1st

Democracy over time

  • France
  • Switzerland
02468178919072025

How they compare

France currently reports 7 against 7 in Switzerland, a difference of 0.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 228 shared years of data; in 1798 it was France ahead.

France ranks 1st and Switzerland ranks 1st of 197 countries.

Across the 24 decades both report, France averaged higher in 6 and Switzerland in 6.

Head to head by decade

Decade France Switzerland Difference Ahead
1790s 2 0 2 France
1800s 2 0 2 France
1810s 2 1.8 0.2 France
1820s 2 3 1 Switzerland
1830s 2 3 1 Switzerland
1840s 2.6 3.4 0.8 Switzerland
1850s 2.5 5 2.5 Switzerland
1860s 2 5 3 Switzerland
1870s 5 5 0 β€”
1880s 5 5 0 β€”
1890s 5 5 0 β€”
1900s 5 5 0 β€”
1910s 5 5 0 β€”
1920s 5 5 0 β€”
1930s 5 5 0 β€”
1940s 2.8 5 2.2 Switzerland
1950s 7 5 2 France
1960s 7 5 2 France
1970s 7 6.8 0.2 France
1980s 7 7 0 β€”
1990s 7 7 0 β€”
2000s 7 7 0 β€”
2010s 7 7 0 β€”
2020s 7 7 0 β€”

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher democracy, France or Switzerland?
France, at 7 against 7 in Switzerland as of 2025.
What is the difference in democracy between France and Switzerland?
0, with France ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for France and Switzerland?
228 years are reported by both, from 1798 to 2025.
How do France and Switzerland rank globally for democracy?
France ranks 1st and Switzerland 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).