Which has higher democracy, Belgium or Romania?

Belgium, at 2 against 2 in Romania as of 2018.

How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Romania?

154 years are reported by both, from 1859 to 2018.

Where does this data come from?

Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Belgium vs Romania: Democracy

Belgium

in 2018

Romania

in 2018

Belgium rank

1st

Romania rank

1st

Democracy over time

Belgium
Romania

How they compare

Belgium currently reports 2 against 2 in Romania, a difference of 0.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 154 shared years of data; in 1859 it was Romania ahead.

Belgium ranks 1st and Romania ranks 1st of 167 countries.

Belgium has averaged higher in every one of the 17 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Belgium	Romania	Difference	Ahead
1850s	1	1	0	—
1860s	1	0.6	0.4	Belgium
1870s	1	0	1	Belgium
1880s	1	0	1	Belgium
1890s	1	0	1	Belgium
1900s	1.2	0	1.2	Belgium
1910s	2	1	1	Belgium
1920s	2	1	1	Belgium
1930s	2	0.8	1.2	Belgium
1940s	2	0.1667	1.83	Belgium
1950s	2	0	2	Belgium
1960s	2	0	2	Belgium
1970s	2	0	2	Belgium
1980s	2	0.1	1.9	Belgium
1990s	2	1.4	0.6	Belgium
2000s	2	2	0	—
2010s	2	2	0	—

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher democracy, Belgium or Romania?: Belgium, at 2 against 2 in Romania as of 2018.
What is the difference in democracy between Belgium and Romania?: 0, with Belgium ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and Romania?: 154 years are reported by both, from 1859 to 2018.
How do Belgium and Romania rank globally for democracy?: Belgium ranks 1st and Romania ranks 1st of 167 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Polity 5 (2020) – 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: Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 168 places, 18,392 data points, 1776–2020
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Identifies the political regime of a country using the Polity 5 data by the Center for Systemic Peace. It distinguishes between autocracies (score 0), anocracies (score 1), and democracies (score 2).