Statizoid

Democracy in Iceland

Iceland: Democracy was 9 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
9
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 176 countries
All-time high
9
in 1995
All-time low
0
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Democracy in Iceland, 1900–2025

0246810190019622025

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

Analysis

Iceland recorded 9 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.

The figure is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Iceland peaked at 9 in 1995 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1900.

Iceland ranks 1st of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.

Democracy in Iceland, year by year

Year Value Change
1900 0 —
1901 0 —
1902 0 —
1903 0 —
1904 5 —
1905 7 +40.0%
1906 7 +0.0%
1907 7 +0.0%
1908 7 +0.0%
1909 7 +0.0%
1910 7 +0.0%
1911 7 +0.0%
1912 7 +0.0%
1913 7 +0.0%
1914 7 +0.0%
1915 7 +0.0%
1916 7 +0.0%
1917 7 +0.0%
1918 7 +0.0%
1919 7 +0.0%
1920 8 +14.3%
1921 8 +0.0%
1922 8 +0.0%
1923 8 +0.0%
1924 8 +0.0%
1925 8 +0.0%
1926 8 +0.0%
1927 8 +0.0%
1928 8 +0.0%
1929 8 +0.0%
1930 7 -12.5%
1931 7 +0.0%
1932 7 +0.0%
1933 7 +0.0%
1934 7 +0.0%
1935 7 +0.0%
1936 7 +0.0%
1937 7 +0.0%
1938 7 +0.0%
1939 7 +0.0%
1940 7 +0.0%
1941 7 +0.0%
1942 7 +0.0%
1943 7 +0.0%
1944 8 +14.3%
1945 8 +0.0%
1946 8 +0.0%
1947 8 +0.0%
1948 8 +0.0%
1949 8 +0.0%
1950 8 +0.0%
1951 8 +0.0%
1952 8 +0.0%
1953 8 +0.0%
1954 8 +0.0%
1955 8 +0.0%
1956 8 +0.0%
1957 8 +0.0%
1958 8 +0.0%
1959 8 +0.0%
1960 8 +0.0%
1961 8 +0.0%
1962 8 +0.0%
1963 8 +0.0%
1964 8 +0.0%
1965 8 +0.0%
1966 8 +0.0%
1967 8 +0.0%
1968 8 +0.0%
1969 8 +0.0%
1970 8 +0.0%
1971 8 +0.0%
1972 8 +0.0%
1973 8 +0.0%
1974 8 +0.0%
1975 8 +0.0%
1976 8 +0.0%
1977 8 +0.0%
1978 8 +0.0%
1979 8 +0.0%
1980 8 +0.0%
1981 8 +0.0%
1982 8 +0.0%
1983 8 +0.0%
1984 8 +0.0%
1985 8 +0.0%
1986 8 +0.0%
1987 8 +0.0%
1988 8 +0.0%
1989 8 +0.0%
1990 8 +0.0%
1991 8 +0.0%
1992 8 +0.0%
1993 8 +0.0%
1994 8 +0.0%
1995 9 +12.5%
1996 9 +0.0%
1997 9 +0.0%
1998 9 +0.0%
1999 9 +0.0%
2000 9 +0.0%
2001 9 +0.0%
2002 9 +0.0%
2003 9 +0.0%
2004 9 +0.0%
2005 9 +0.0%
2006 9 +0.0%
2007 9 +0.0%
2008 9 +0.0%
2009 9 +0.0%
2010 9 +0.0%
2011 9 +0.0%
2012 9 +0.0%
2013 9 +0.0%
2014 9 +0.0%
2015 9 +0.0%
2016 9 +0.0%
2017 9 +0.0%
2018 9 +0.0%
2019 9 +0.0%
2020 9 +0.0%
2021 9 +0.0%
2022 9 +0.0%
2023 9 +0.0%
2024 9 +0.0%
2025 9 +0.0%

Iceland compared with similar countries

  • Iceland's 9 is above the median for high income countries, which is 8, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • Iceland's 9 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 6, 1.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 4 0 7 10
1910s 7 7 7 10
1920s 8 8 8 10
1930s 7 7 7 10
1940s 7.6 7 8 10
1950s 8 8 8 10
1960s 8 8 8 10
1970s 8 8 8 10
1980s 8 8 8 10
1990s 8.5 8 9 10
2000s 9 9 9 10
2010s 9 9 9 10
2020s 9 9 9 6

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 1 Australia 9 compare
  2. 1 Belgium 9 compare
  3. 1 Costa Rica 9 compare
  4. 1 Czechia 9 compare
  5. 1 Denmark 9 compare
  6. 1 Estonia 9 compare
  7. 1 Finland 9 compare
  8. 1 Germany 9 compare
  9. 1 Ireland 9 compare
  10. 1 Japan 9 compare
  11. 1 Latvia 9 compare
  12. 1 Luxembourg 9 compare
  13. 1 Netherlands 9 compare
  14. 1 New Zealand 9 compare
  15. 1 Norway 9 compare
  16. 1 Seychelles 9 compare
  17. 1 South Korea 9 compare
  18. 1 Spain 9 compare
  19. 1 Sweden 9 compare
  20. 1 Switzerland 9 compare
  21. 1 Taiwan 9 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Iceland?
Democracy in Iceland was 9 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 9 in 1995.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1900.
How does Iceland rank for democracy?
Iceland ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland 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.

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CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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Democracy in Iceland. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-regime-amb-row/iceland/

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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.