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Political centralization index in China

China: Political centralization index was 0.931 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
0.931
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
15th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.962
in 1789
All-time low
0.662
in 1948
Years of data
237
1789–2025

Political centralization index in China, 1789–2025

00.20.40.60.81178919072025

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, political centralization index in China stood at 0.931.

The figure is up 8.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, political centralization index in China peaked at 0.962 in 1789 and was at its lowest, 0.662, in 1948.

China ranks 15th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 237 years of available data.

Political centralization index in China, year by year

Year Value Change
1789 0.962 —
1790 0.962 +0.0%
1791 0.962 +0.0%
1792 0.962 +0.0%
1793 0.962 +0.0%
1794 0.962 +0.0%
1795 0.962 +0.0%
1796 0.962 +0.0%
1797 0.962 +0.0%
1798 0.962 +0.0%
1799 0.962 +0.0%
1800 0.962 +0.0%
1801 0.962 +0.0%
1802 0.962 +0.0%
1803 0.962 +0.0%
1804 0.962 +0.0%
1805 0.962 +0.0%
1806 0.962 +0.0%
1807 0.962 +0.0%
1808 0.962 +0.0%
1809 0.962 +0.0%
1810 0.962 +0.0%
1811 0.962 +0.0%
1812 0.962 +0.0%
1813 0.962 +0.0%
1814 0.962 +0.0%
1815 0.962 +0.0%
1816 0.962 +0.0%
1817 0.962 +0.0%
1818 0.962 +0.0%
1819 0.962 +0.0%
1820 0.962 +0.0%
1821 0.962 +0.0%
1822 0.962 +0.0%
1823 0.962 +0.0%
1824 0.962 +0.0%
1825 0.962 +0.0%
1826 0.962 +0.0%
1827 0.962 +0.0%
1828 0.962 +0.0%
1829 0.962 +0.0%
1830 0.962 +0.0%
1831 0.962 +0.0%
1832 0.962 +0.0%
1833 0.962 +0.0%
1834 0.962 +0.0%
1835 0.962 +0.0%
1836 0.962 +0.0%
1837 0.962 +0.0%
1838 0.962 +0.0%
1839 0.962 +0.0%
1840 0.962 +0.0%
1841 0.962 +0.0%
1842 0.962 +0.0%
1843 0.962 +0.0%
1844 0.962 +0.0%
1845 0.962 +0.0%
1846 0.962 +0.0%
1847 0.962 +0.0%
1848 0.962 +0.0%
1849 0.962 +0.0%
1850 0.962 +0.0%
1851 0.962 +0.0%
1852 0.962 +0.0%
1853 0.962 +0.0%
1854 0.962 +0.0%
1855 0.962 +0.0%
1856 0.962 +0.0%
1857 0.962 +0.0%
1858 0.962 +0.0%
1859 0.962 +0.0%
1860 0.962 +0.0%
1861 0.962 +0.0%
1862 0.962 +0.0%
1863 0.962 +0.0%
1864 0.962 +0.0%
1865 0.962 +0.0%
1866 0.962 +0.0%
1867 0.962 +0.0%
1868 0.962 +0.0%
1869 0.962 +0.0%
1870 0.962 +0.0%
1871 0.962 +0.0%
1872 0.962 +0.0%
1873 0.962 +0.0%
1874 0.962 +0.0%
1875 0.962 +0.0%
1876 0.962 +0.0%
1877 0.962 +0.0%
1878 0.962 +0.0%
1879 0.962 +0.0%
1880 0.962 +0.0%
1881 0.962 +0.0%
1882 0.962 +0.0%
1883 0.962 +0.0%
1884 0.962 +0.0%
1885 0.962 +0.0%
1886 0.962 +0.0%
1887 0.962 +0.0%
1888 0.962 +0.0%
1889 0.962 +0.0%
1890 0.962 +0.0%
1891 0.962 +0.0%
1892 0.962 +0.0%
1893 0.962 +0.0%
1894 0.962 +0.0%
1895 0.962 +0.0%
1896 0.962 +0.0%
1897 0.962 +0.0%
1898 0.962 +0.0%
1899 0.962 +0.0%
1900 0.915 -4.9%
1901 0.915 +0.0%
1902 0.915 +0.0%
1903 0.915 +0.0%
1904 0.915 +0.0%
1905 0.915 +0.0%
1906 0.915 +0.0%
1907 0.908 -0.8%
1908 0.908 +0.0%
1909 0.908 +0.0%
1910 0.908 +0.0%
1911 0.887 -2.3%
1912 0.801 -9.7%
1913 0.745 -7.0%
1914 0.792 +6.3%
1915 0.792 +0.0%
1916 0.804 +1.5%
1917 0.732 -9.0%
1918 0.76 +3.8%
1919 0.676 -11.1%
1920 0.668 -1.2%
1921 0.788 +18.0%
1922 0.815 +3.4%
1923 0.739 -9.3%
1924 0.698 -5.5%
1925 0.698 +0.0%
1926 0.698 +0.0%
1927 0.792 +13.5%
1928 0.766 -3.3%
1929 0.766 +0.0%
1930 0.766 +0.0%
1931 0.766 +0.0%
1932 0.766 +0.0%
1933 0.766 +0.0%
1934 0.766 +0.0%
1935 0.766 +0.0%
1936 0.766 +0.0%
1937 0.766 +0.0%
1938 0.76 -0.8%
1939 0.76 +0.0%
1940 0.76 +0.0%
1941 0.76 +0.0%
1942 0.76 +0.0%
1943 0.76 +0.0%
1944 0.76 +0.0%
1945 0.76 +0.0%
1946 0.76 +0.0%
1947 0.76 +0.0%
1948 0.662 -12.9%
1949 0.728 +10.0%
1950 0.829 +13.9%
1951 0.829 +0.0%
1952 0.829 +0.0%
1953 0.831 +0.2%
1954 0.773 -7.0%
1955 0.773 +0.0%
1956 0.773 +0.0%
1957 0.773 +0.0%
1958 0.773 +0.0%
1959 0.773 +0.0%
1960 0.773 +0.0%
1961 0.773 +0.0%
1962 0.773 +0.0%
1963 0.773 +0.0%
1964 0.773 +0.0%
1965 0.773 +0.0%
1966 0.777 +0.5%
1967 0.786 +1.2%
1968 0.786 +0.0%
1969 0.786 +0.0%
1970 0.786 +0.0%
1971 0.786 +0.0%
1972 0.786 +0.0%
1973 0.786 +0.0%
1974 0.786 +0.0%
1975 0.786 +0.0%
1976 0.786 +0.0%
1977 0.759 -3.4%
1978 0.757 -0.3%
1979 0.728 -3.8%
1980 0.713 -2.1%
1981 0.713 +0.0%
1982 0.713 +0.0%
1983 0.721 +1.1%
1984 0.713 -1.1%
1985 0.713 +0.0%
1986 0.717 +0.6%
1987 0.717 +0.0%
1988 0.717 +0.0%
1989 0.717 +0.0%
1990 0.717 +0.0%
1991 0.717 +0.0%
1992 0.717 +0.0%
1993 0.717 +0.0%
1994 0.717 +0.0%
1995 0.709 -1.1%
1996 0.709 +0.0%
1997 0.709 +0.0%
1998 0.714 +0.7%
1999 0.714 +0.0%
2000 0.707 -1.0%
2001 0.707 +0.0%
2002 0.701 -0.8%
2003 0.701 +0.0%
2004 0.701 +0.0%
2005 0.845 +20.5%
2006 0.846 +0.1%
2007 0.846 +0.0%
2008 0.846 +0.0%
2009 0.847 +0.1%
2010 0.847 +0.0%
2011 0.847 +0.0%
2012 0.852 +0.6%
2013 0.855 +0.4%
2014 0.851 -0.5%
2015 0.86 +1.1%
2016 0.86 +0.0%
2017 0.87 +1.2%
2018 0.869 -0.1%
2019 0.877 +0.9%
2020 0.913 +4.1%
2021 0.916 +0.3%
2022 0.904 -1.3%
2023 0.911 +0.8%
2024 0.931 +2.2%
2025 0.931 +0.0%

China compared with similar countries

  • China's 0.931 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.3495, 2.7× the median. (48 countries reporting)
  • China's 0.931 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.267, 3.5× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1780s 0.962 0.962 0.962 1
1790s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1800s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1810s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1820s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1830s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1840s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1850s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1860s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1870s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1880s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1890s 0.962 0.962 0.962 10
1900s 0.9129 0.908 0.915 10
1910s 0.7897 0.676 0.908 10
1920s 0.7428 0.668 0.815 10
1930s 0.7648 0.76 0.766 10
1940s 0.747 0.662 0.76 10
1950s 0.7956 0.773 0.831 10
1960s 0.7773 0.773 0.786 10
1970s 0.7746 0.728 0.786 10
1980s 0.7154 0.713 0.721 10
1990s 0.714 0.709 0.717 10
2000s 0.7747 0.701 0.847 10
2010s 0.8588 0.847 0.877 10
2020s 0.9177 0.904 0.931 6

Countries ranked near China

  1. 12 Turkmenistan 0.947 compare
  2. 13 Russia 0.945 compare
  3. 14 Burundi 0.936 compare
  4. 16 Cambodia 0.93 compare
  5. 17 Afghanistan 0.927 compare
  6. 18 Syria 0.914 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for China

All data for China →

Frequently asked questions

What is political centralization index in China?
Political centralization index in China was 0.931 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest political centralization index recorded in China?
The highest recorded value was 0.962 in 1789.
What is the lowest political centralization index recorded in China?
The lowest recorded value was 0.662 in 1948.
How does China rank for political centralization index?
China ranks 15th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is political centralization index rising or falling in China?
Over the last ten years it is up 8.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this China data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Political centralization index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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CSV · JSON — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Relationships involving this indicator

Comparisons with other indicators across countries. Each was re-measured with population and national income held constant, so a relationship that only reflected country size is not listed here.

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Political centralization index in China. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 14 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-centralization-index/china/

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About this data

Indicator
Political centralization index
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 29,802 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed