Democracy by country

Political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg, including ambiguous categories.

Countries reporting
173
Highest
9
Australia
Lowest
0
Vatican
Median
4
Years covered
237
1789–2025
Data points
29,594

What the numbers show

Democracy is currently reported for 173 countries. The highest value is 9 in Australia; the lowest is 0 in Vatican.

The median across all reporting countries is 4, and the mean is 4.28.

Over the past decade 13 countries rose and 57 fell. The largest increase was in Gambia (up 133.3%), and the largest decrease in Afghanistan (down 100.0%).

Democracy: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Australia 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Belgium 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Switzerland 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Costa Rica 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Czechia 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Germany 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Denmark 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Spain 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Estonia 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Finland 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Iceland 9 2025 unchanged rising
1 Japan 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 South Korea 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Latvia 9 2025 up 12.5% volatile
1 Netherlands 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Norway 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 New Zealand 9 2025 unchanged rising
1 Sweden 9 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Seychelles 9 2025 up 80.0% volatile
1 Taiwan 9 2025 unchanged volatile
23 Austria 8 2025 down 11.1% volatile
23 Barbados 8 2025 unchanged volatile
23 Chile 8 2025 unchanged volatile
23 Cyprus 8 2025 down 11.1% volatile
23 France 8 2025 down 11.1% volatile
23 Italy 8 2025 unchanged volatile
23 Lithuania 8 2025 down 11.1% volatile
23 Trinidad and Tobago 8 2025 unchanged volatile
23 Uruguay 8 2025 down 11.1% volatile
32 Brazil 7 2025 up 16.7% volatile
32 Canada 7 2025 down 22.2% volatile
32 United Kingdom 7 2025 down 22.2% volatile
32 Gambia 7 2025 up 133.3% volatile
32 Israel 7 2025 down 22.2% volatile
32 Montenegro 7 2025 up 75.0% volatile
32 Mauritius 7 2025 down 12.5% volatile
32 United States 7 2025 down 22.2% volatile
32 Vanuatu 7 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Argentina 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Armenia 6 2025 up 100.0% volatile
42 Bulgaria 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Bolivia 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Botswana 6 2025 down 33.3% volatile
42 Colombia 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Cape Verde 6 2025 down 14.3% volatile
42 Dominican Republic 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Ecuador 6 2025 up 20.0% volatile
42 Ghana 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Greece 6 2025 down 25.0% volatile
42 Guatemala 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Croatia 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Jamaica 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Liberia 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Sri Lanka 6 2025 up 20.0% volatile
42 Lesotho 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Nepal 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Panama 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Peru 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Poland 6 2025 down 25.0% volatile
42 Portugal 6 2025 down 33.3% volatile
42 Paraguay 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Romania 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Senegal 6 2025 down 14.3% volatile
42 Solomon Islands 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Sao Tome and Principe 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 Suriname 6 2025 down 14.3% volatile
42 Slovakia 6 2025 down 25.0% volatile
42 Slovenia 6 2025 down 33.3% volatile
42 East Timor 6 2025 unchanged volatile
42 South Africa 6 2025 down 14.3% volatile
74 Bhutan 5 2025 down 28.6% volatile
74 Fiji 5 2025 up 66.7% volatile
74 Guyana 5 2025 down 16.7% volatile
74 Honduras 5 2025 up 66.7% volatile
74 Kenya 5 2025 unchanged volatile
74 Moldova 5 2025 down 16.7% volatile
74 Maldives 5 2025 up 66.7% volatile
74 North Macedonia 5 2025 up 66.7% volatile
74 Mongolia 5 2025 down 16.7% volatile
74 Malawi 5 2025 unchanged volatile
74 Malaysia 5 2025 up 66.7% volatile
74 Namibia 5 2025 down 28.6% volatile
74 Nigeria 5 2025 unchanged volatile
87 Albania 4 2025 down 20.0% volatile
87 Benin 4 2025 down 33.3% volatile
87 Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 2025 down 20.0% volatile
87 Indonesia 4 2025 down 33.3% volatile
87 Mexico 4 2025 down 33.3% volatile
87 Sierra Leone 4 2025 down 20.0% volatile
87 Zambia 4 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Angola 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Azerbaijan 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Burundi 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Central African Republic 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Cote d'Ivoire 3 2025 down 25.0% volatile
94 Cameroon 3 2025 unchanged rising
94 Democratic Republic of Congo 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Congo 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Comoros 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Djibouti 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Algeria 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Egypt 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Ethiopia 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Gabon 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Georgia 3 2025 down 50.0% volatile
94 Equatorial Guinea 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Hungary 3 2025 down 50.0% volatile
94 India 3 2025 down 40.0% volatile
94 Iraq 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Kazakhstan 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Kyrgyzstan 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Cambodia 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Lebanon 3 2025 down 25.0% volatile
94 Mozambique 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Mauritania 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Nicaragua 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Pakistan 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Philippines 3 2025 down 40.0% volatile
94 Papua New Guinea 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Russia 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Rwanda 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Singapore 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 El Salvador 3 2025 down 50.0% volatile
94 Serbia 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Chad 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Togo 3 2025 down 25.0% volatile
94 Thailand 3 2025 volatile
94 Tajikistan 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Tunisia 3 2025 down 50.0% volatile
94 Turkey 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Tanzania 3 2025 down 25.0% volatile
94 Uganda 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Ukraine 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Venezuela 3 2025 unchanged volatile
94 Zimbabwe 3 2025 unchanged rising
139 Iran 2 2025 down 33.3% volatile
139 Turkmenistan 2 2025 volatile
139 Uzbekistan 2 2025 volatile
142 Afghanistan 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 United Arab Emirates 0 2025 flat
142 Burkina Faso 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Bangladesh 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Bahrain 0 2025 flat
142 Belarus 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 China 0 2025 volatile
142 Cuba 0 2025 volatile
142 Eritrea 0 2025 flat
142 Guinea 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Guinea-Bissau 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Hong Kong 0 2025 flat
142 Haiti 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Jordan 0 2025 volatile
142 Kuwait 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Laos 0 2025 volatile
142 Libya 0 2025 volatile
142 Morocco 0 2025 flat
142 Madagascar 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Mali 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Myanmar 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Niger 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Oman 0 2025 flat
142 North Korea 0 2025 flat
142 Palestine 0 1948 flat
142 Qatar 0 2025 flat
142 Saudi Arabia 0 2025 flat
142 Sudan 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Somalia 0 2025 volatile
142 South Sudan 0 2025 volatile
142 Eswatini 0 2025 flat
142 Syria 0 2025 volatile
142 Vietnam 0 2025 down 100.0% falling
142 Yemen 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
142 Vatican 0 1861 flat

About this data

Indicator
Democracy
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 29,594 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg, including ambiguous categories.