Democracy in Barbados
Barbados: Democracy was 8 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Democracy in Barbados, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, democracy in Barbados stood at 8. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
The figure is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Barbados peaked at 8 in 2015 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1900.
Barbados ranks 23rd of 176 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1950s | 2.2 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 1960s | 6 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| 1970s | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| 1980s | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| 1990s | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| 2000s | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| 2010s | 7 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 2020s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Barbados
More reference data data for Barbados
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Consumer price index 146.53 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
- Elected parliament 1 (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected 1 (2025)
- Democracy 7 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 1 (2025)
- Free country 2 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Barbados?
- Democracy in Barbados was 8 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Barbados?
- The highest recorded value was 8 in 2015.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Barbados?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1900.
- How does Barbados rank for democracy?
- Barbados ranks 23rd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Barbados?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Barbados data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
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.