Sweden vs USSR: Democracy
Sweden
7
in 2025
USSR
3
in 1990
Sweden rank
1st
USSR rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Sweden
- USSR
How they compare
Sweden currently reports 7 against 3 in USSR, a difference of 4.
That makes Sweden's figure about 2.3 times USSR's.
Across all 69 years both countries report, Sweden has been ahead every year.
Sweden ranks 1st and USSR ranks 1st of 197 countries.
Sweden has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Sweden | USSR | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 7 | 1 | 6 | Sweden |
| 1930s | 6.3 | 1 | 5.3 | Sweden |
| 1940s | 6.4 | 1 | 5.4 | Sweden |
| 1950s | 7 | 1 | 6 | Sweden |
| 1960s | 7 | 1 | 6 | Sweden |
| 1970s | 7 | 1 | 6 | Sweden |
| 1980s | 7 | 1 | 6 | Sweden |
| 1990s | 7 | 3 | 4 | Sweden |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, Sweden or USSR?
- Sweden, at 7 against 3 in USSR as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Sweden and USSR?
- 4, with Sweden ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Sweden and USSR?
- 69 years are reported by both, from 1922 to 1990.
- How do Sweden and USSR rank globally for democracy?
- Sweden 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).