Japan vs South Africa: Transparent laws
Japan
1
in 2025
South Africa
1
in 2025
Japan rank
1st
South Africa rank
1st
Transparent laws over time
- Japan
- South Africa
How they compare
Japan currently reports 1 against 1 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was South Africa ahead.
Japan ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 176 countries.
Japan has averaged higher in every one of the 13 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 0.4 | 0 | 0.4 | Japan |
| 1950s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Japan |
| 1960s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Japan |
| 1970s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Japan |
| 1980s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Japan |
| 1990s | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | Japan |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 1 | 0.3 | 0.7 | Japan |
| 2020s | 1 | 0.3333 | 0.6667 | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher transparent laws, Japan or South Africa?
- Japan, at 1 against 1 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in transparent laws between Japan and South Africa?
- 0, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and South Africa?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Japan and South Africa rank globally for transparent laws?
- Japan ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 176 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Transparent laws. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Central estimate of whether laws are transparent, coherent, and relatively stable, and their enforcement predictable.