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Centralization of Political Power Index in Laos

Laos: Centralization of Political Power Index was 0.557 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
0.557
Change on year
up 4.1%
World rank
65th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.693
in 1874
All-time low
0.483
in 1948
Years of data
145
1874–2025

Centralization of Political Power Index in Laos, 1874–2025

00.20.40.6187419492025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Laos recorded 0.557 for centralization of political power index in 2025.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.1% on the previous year and up 12.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, centralization of political power index in Laos peaked at 0.693 in 1874 and was at its lowest, 0.483, in 1948.

Laos ranks 65th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 145 years of available data.

Centralization of Political Power Index in Laos, year by year

Year Value Change
1874 0.693 —
1875 0.693 +0.0%
1876 0.693 +0.0%
1877 0.693 +0.0%
1878 0.693 +0.0%
1879 0.693 +0.0%
1880 0.693 +0.0%
1881 0.693 +0.0%
1882 0.693 +0.0%
1883 0.693 +0.0%
1884 0.693 +0.0%
1885 0.693 +0.0%
1886 0.693 +0.0%
1887 0.693 +0.0%
1888 0.693 +0.0%
1889 0.693 +0.0%
1890 0.693 +0.0%
1891 0.693 +0.0%
1892 0.693 +0.0%
1900 0.644 -7.1%
1901 0.644 +0.0%
1902 0.644 +0.0%
1903 0.644 +0.0%
1904 0.644 +0.0%
1905 0.644 +0.0%
1906 0.644 +0.0%
1907 0.644 +0.0%
1908 0.644 +0.0%
1909 0.644 +0.0%
1910 0.644 +0.0%
1911 0.644 +0.0%
1912 0.644 +0.0%
1913 0.644 +0.0%
1914 0.644 +0.0%
1915 0.644 +0.0%
1916 0.644 +0.0%
1917 0.644 +0.0%
1918 0.644 +0.0%
1919 0.644 +0.0%
1920 0.644 +0.0%
1921 0.644 +0.0%
1922 0.644 +0.0%
1923 0.644 +0.0%
1924 0.644 +0.0%
1925 0.644 +0.0%
1926 0.644 +0.0%
1927 0.644 +0.0%
1928 0.644 +0.0%
1929 0.644 +0.0%
1930 0.644 +0.0%
1931 0.644 +0.0%
1932 0.644 +0.0%
1933 0.644 +0.0%
1934 0.644 +0.0%
1935 0.644 +0.0%
1936 0.644 +0.0%
1937 0.644 +0.0%
1938 0.644 +0.0%
1939 0.644 +0.0%
1940 0.644 +0.0%
1941 0.637 -1.1%
1942 0.607 -4.7%
1943 0.631 +4.0%
1944 0.605 -4.1%
1945 0.639 +5.6%
1946 0.548 -14.2%
1947 0.592 +8.0%
1948 0.483 -18.4%
1949 0.483 +0.0%
1950 0.483 +0.0%
1951 0.483 +0.0%
1952 0.483 +0.0%
1953 0.569 +17.8%
1954 0.581 +2.1%
1955 0.58 -0.2%
1956 0.58 +0.0%
1957 0.582 +0.3%
1958 0.582 +0.0%
1959 0.587 +0.9%
1960 0.587 +0.0%
1961 0.591 +0.7%
1962 0.591 +0.0%
1963 0.591 +0.0%
1964 0.591 +0.0%
1965 0.591 +0.0%
1966 0.591 +0.0%
1967 0.591 +0.0%
1968 0.591 +0.0%
1969 0.591 +0.0%
1970 0.591 +0.0%
1971 0.591 +0.0%
1972 0.591 +0.0%
1973 0.591 +0.0%
1974 0.591 +0.0%
1975 0.589 -0.3%
1976 0.581 -1.4%
1977 0.581 +0.0%
1978 0.581 +0.0%
1979 0.581 +0.0%
1980 0.581 +0.0%
1981 0.581 +0.0%
1982 0.581 +0.0%
1983 0.581 +0.0%
1984 0.581 +0.0%
1985 0.581 +0.0%
1986 0.581 +0.0%
1987 0.581 +0.0%
1988 0.581 +0.0%
1989 0.515 -11.4%
1990 0.507 -1.6%
1991 0.505 -0.4%
1992 0.515 +2.0%
1993 0.499 -3.1%
1994 0.494 -1.0%
1995 0.494 +0.0%
1996 0.494 +0.0%
1997 0.494 +0.0%
1998 0.494 +0.0%
1999 0.494 +0.0%
2000 0.494 +0.0%
2001 0.494 +0.0%
2002 0.494 +0.0%
2003 0.494 +0.0%
2004 0.494 +0.0%
2005 0.494 +0.0%
2006 0.505 +2.2%
2007 0.505 +0.0%
2008 0.505 +0.0%
2009 0.505 +0.0%
2010 0.496 -1.8%
2011 0.496 +0.0%
2012 0.496 +0.0%
2013 0.496 +0.0%
2014 0.496 +0.0%
2015 0.496 +0.0%
2016 0.526 +6.0%
2017 0.538 +2.3%
2018 0.568 +5.6%
2019 0.528 -7.0%
2020 0.585 +10.8%
2021 0.528 -9.7%
2022 0.568 +7.6%
2023 0.55 -3.2%
2024 0.535 -2.7%
2025 0.557 +4.1%

Laos compared with similar countries

  • Laos's 0.557 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.5475, 1.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
  • Laos's 0.557 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.267, 2.1× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1870s 0.693 0.693 0.693 6
1880s 0.693 0.693 0.693 10
1890s 0.693 0.693 0.693 3
1900s 0.644 0.644 0.644 10
1910s 0.644 0.644 0.644 10
1920s 0.644 0.644 0.644 10
1930s 0.644 0.644 0.644 10
1940s 0.5869 0.483 0.644 10
1950s 0.551 0.483 0.587 10
1960s 0.5906 0.587 0.591 10
1970s 0.5868 0.581 0.591 10
1980s 0.5744 0.515 0.581 10
1990s 0.499 0.494 0.515 10
2000s 0.4984 0.494 0.505 10
2010s 0.5136 0.496 0.568 10
2020s 0.5538 0.528 0.585 6

Countries ranked near Laos

  1. 62 Cote d'Ivoire 0.589 compare
  2. 63 Oman 0.568 compare
  3. 64 Iraq 0.567 compare
  4. 66 Serbia 0.55 compare
  5. 67 Hong Kong 0.546 compare
  6. 68 Egypt 0.538 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Laos

All data for Laos →

Frequently asked questions

What is centralization of political power index in Laos?
Centralization of political power index in Laos was 0.557 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest centralization of political power index recorded in Laos?
The highest recorded value was 0.693 in 1874.
What is the lowest centralization of political power index recorded in Laos?
The lowest recorded value was 0.483 in 1948.
How does Laos rank for centralization of political power index?
Laos ranks 65th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is centralization of political power index rising or falling in Laos?
Over the last ten years it is up 12.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Laos data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Centralization of Political Power Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Centralization of Political Power Index in Laos. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-centralization-index/lao-pdr/

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About this data

Indicator
Centralization of Political Power Index
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 29,802 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate of the extent to which the executive is unconstrained by the legislature, judiciary, electoral management body, and other oversight.