Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in United States
United States: Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) was 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in United States, 1996–2025
Source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Measured in approx. -2.5 to +2.5.
Analysis
The most recent figure for government effectiveness - governance estimate in United States is 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 27 years on record.
The figure is down 8.5% on the previous year and down 23.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, government effectiveness - governance estimate in United States peaked at 1.94 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2002 and was at its lowest, 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2025.
United States ranks 32nd of 206 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 27 years of available data.
Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in United States, year by year
| Year | approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1.78 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | — |
| 1998 | 1.74 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.8% |
| 2000 | 1.91 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +9.3% |
| 2002 | 1.94 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.9% |
| 2003 | 1.62 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -16.7% |
| 2004 | 1.59 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.6% |
| 2005 | 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.9% |
| 2007 | 1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 1.44 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.0% |
| 2010 | 1.44 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 1.44 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 1.51 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +4.3% |
| 2013 | 1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.3% |
| 2014 | 1.57 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +3.0% |
| 2015 | 1.55 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.4% |
| 2016 | 1.55 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.2% |
| 2017 | 1.55 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +2.3% |
| 2019 | 1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.2% |
| 2020 | 1.34 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -10.7% |
| 2021 | 1.35 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 1.39 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +3.1% |
| 2023 | 1.29 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -6.9% |
| 2024 | 1.3 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.8% |
| 2025 | 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -8.5% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for high income countries, which is 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 1.1× the median. (74 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.76 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.74 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.78 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.63 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.44 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.94 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 9 |
| 2010s | 1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.44 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.31 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.39 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 19.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 20.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 64.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 52.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 133.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 589.96 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 112.69 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is government effectiveness - governance estimate in United States?
- Government effectiveness - governance estimate in United States was 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025, according to The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG).
- What is the highest government effectiveness - governance estimate recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 1.94 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2002.
- What is the lowest government effectiveness - governance estimate recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025.
- How does United States rank for government effectiveness - governance estimate?
- United States ranks 32nd out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is government effectiveness - governance estimate rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), published as part of Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Government Effectiveness (GE) captures perceptions of the quality of public services, the civil service, policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of a government’s decisions. Governance estimate from the aggregation model, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) standard error. The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance estimate is based. The standard error indicates the precision of the governance estimate. Larger values indicate less precise estimates. A 90% confidence interval for the governance estimate is given by the estimate +/- 1.64 times the standard error.