Government Effectiveness - Governance score in South Korea

South Korea: Government Effectiveness - Governance score was 80.25 0-100 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
80.25 0-100
Change on year
down 0.2%
World rank
20th
of 205 countries
All-time high
82.99 0-100
in 2019
All-time low
57.5 0-100
in 1998
Years of data
26
1996–2024

Government Effectiveness - Governance score in South Korea, 1996–2024

0204060801996201020241996: 64.9 0-1001998: 57.5 0-1002000: 64.2 0-1002002: 71.2 0-1002003: 70 0-1002004: 68.1 0-1002005: 71.2 0-1002006: 69.4 0-1002007: 73.6 0-1002008: 69.6 0-1002009: 71.3 0-1002010: 76.1 0-1002011: 77.1 0-1002012: 77.3 0-1002013: 75.1 0-1002014: 74.4 0-1002015: 74.6 0-1002016: 74.4 0-1002017: 74.3 0-1002018: 78.3 0-1002019: 83 0-1002020: 82.3 0-1002021: 83 0-1002022: 80.2 0-1002023: 80.4 0-1002024: 80.2 0-100

Source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Measured in 0-100.

Analysis

In 2024, government effectiveness - governance score in South Korea stood at 80.25 0-100.

That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and up 7.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, government effectiveness - governance score in South Korea peaked at 82.99 0-100 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 57.5 0-100, in 1998.

That places South Korea 20th out of 205 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.

Government Effectiveness - Governance score in South Korea, year by year

Annual values for Government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100) in South Korea, 1996 to 2024.
Year 0-100 Change
1996 64.87 0-100
1998 57.5 0-100 -11.4%
2000 64.15 0-100 +11.6%
2002 71.16 0-100 +10.9%
2003 70.03 0-100 -1.6%
2004 68.14 0-100 -2.7%
2005 71.19 0-100 +4.5%
2006 69.39 0-100 -2.5%
2007 73.63 0-100 +6.1%
2008 69.6 0-100 -5.5%
2009 71.28 0-100 +2.4%
2010 76.08 0-100 +6.7%
2011 77.07 0-100 +1.3%
2012 77.27 0-100 +0.3%
2013 75.14 0-100 -2.8%
2014 74.41 0-100 -1.0%
2015 74.64 0-100 +0.3%
2016 74.41 0-100 -0.3%
2017 74.34 0-100 -0.1%
2018 78.3 0-100 +5.3%
2019 82.99 0-100 +6.0%
2020 82.29 0-100 -0.8%
2021 82.96 0-100 +0.8%
2022 80.2 0-100 -3.3%
2023 80.42 0-100 +0.3%
2024 80.25 0-100 -0.2%

South Korea compared with similar countries

  • South Korea's 80.25 0-100 is above the median for high income countries, which is 72.52 0-100, 1.1× the median. (73 countries reporting)
  • South Korea's 80.25 0-100 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 52.84 0-100, 1.5× the median. (34 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 61.18 0-100 57.5 0-100 64.87 0-100 2
2000s 69.84 0-100 64.15 0-100 73.63 0-100 9
2010s 76.46 0-100 74.34 0-100 82.99 0-100 10
2020s 81.22 0-100 80.2 0-100 82.96 0-100 5

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 17 Ireland 82.68 0-100 compare
  2. 18 Germany 81.41 0-100 compare
  3. 19 Austria 80.79 0-100 compare
  4. 21 Bermuda 80.03 0-100 compare
  5. 22 United States 77.78 0-100 compare
  6. 23 Greenland 77.65 0-100 compare

See the full ranking of 205 places →

More reference data data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is government effectiveness - governance score in South Korea?
Government effectiveness - governance score in South Korea was 80.25 0-100 in 2024, 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 score recorded in South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 82.99 0-100 in 2019.
What is the lowest government effectiveness - governance score recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 57.5 0-100 in 1998.
How does South Korea rank for government effectiveness - governance score?
South Korea ranks 20th out of 205 countries with data for 2024.
Is government effectiveness - governance score rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Korea 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 score (0-100). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Government Effectiveness - Governance score in South Korea. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/government-effectiveness-governance-score-0-100/korea-rep/

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About this data

Indicator
Government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100)
Unit
0-100
Source
The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
205 places, 5,161 data points, 1996–2024
Last refreshed

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 score is a linear transformation of the governance estimate using hypothetical worst-case and base-case countries. It is an absolute score ranging from 0-100. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) confidence intervals (lower and upper bound). The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance score (respectively the underlying governance estimate) is based. The confidence intervals include the lower and upper bound of the 90% confidence interval for the governance score. Confidence intervals are a statistical range of values that likely contain the true value (of what is being estimated).