Which has higher rule of law index, Norway or Sweden?

Sweden, at 0.989 against 0.986 in Norway as of 2025.

How many years of comparable data are there for Norway and Sweden?

237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Rule of Law Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Norway vs Sweden: Rule of Law Index

Norway

0.986

in 2025

Sweden

0.989

in 2025

Norway rank

7th

Sweden rank

5th

Rule of Law Index over time

Norway
Sweden

How they compare

Sweden currently reports 0.989 against 0.986 in Norway, a difference of 0.003.

The two have swapped places 8 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was Sweden ahead.

Norway ranks 7th and Sweden ranks 5th of 176 countries.

Across the 25 decades both report, Norway averaged higher in 6 and Sweden in 18.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Norway	Sweden	Difference	Ahead
1780s	0.708	0.849	0.141	Sweden
1790s	0.708	0.849	0.141	Sweden
1800s	0.708	0.8517	0.1437	Sweden
1810s	0.8332	0.876	0.0428	Sweden
1820s	0.953	0.876	0.077	Norway
1830s	0.953	0.876	0.077	Norway
1840s	0.953	0.897	0.056	Norway
1850s	0.953	0.918	0.035	Norway
1860s	0.953	0.963	0.01	Sweden
1870s	0.953	0.963	0.01	Sweden
1880s	0.9542	0.974	0.0198	Sweden
1890s	0.959	0.985	0.026	Sweden
1900s	0.959	0.985	0.026	Sweden
1910s	0.959	0.9851	0.0261	Sweden
1920s	0.9602	0.9868	0.0266	Sweden
1930s	0.962	0.9876	0.0256	Sweden
1940s	0.8647	0.988	0.1233	Sweden
1950s	0.9879	0.991	0.0031	Sweden
1960s	0.9932	0.9929	0.0003	Norway
1970s	0.994	0.994	0	—
1980s	0.994	0.9948	0.0008	Sweden
1990s	0.994	0.995	0.001	Sweden
2000s	0.994	0.9946	0.0006	Sweden
2010s	0.9939	0.9937	0.0002	Norway
2020s	0.9853	0.9912	0.0058	Sweden

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher rule of law index, Norway or Sweden?: Sweden, at 0.989 against 0.986 in Norway as of 2025.
What is the difference in rule of law index between Norway and Sweden?: 0.003, with Sweden ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Norway and Sweden?: 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
How do Norway and Sweden rank globally for rule of law index?: Norway ranks 7th and Sweden ranks 5th of 176 countries.
Where does this data come from?: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Rule of Law Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Norway vs Sweden: Rule of Law Index. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 29 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/rule-of-law-index/norway/sweden/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/rule-of-law-index/norway/sweden/">Norway vs Sweden: Rule of Law Index</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Rule of Law Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,303 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which the government complies with the law, courts are independent, laws transparent, justice accessible, corruption absent, and the bureaucracy is impartial.