Democracy in Ireland
Ireland: Democracy was 9 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Democracy in Ireland, 1789–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 9 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 237 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Ireland peaked at 9 in 1981 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1789.
Ireland ranks 1st of 176 regions on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 237 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1790s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1800s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1810s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1820s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1830s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1840s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1850s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1860s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1870s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1880s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1890s | 3.6 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 1900s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1910s | 3.2 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 1920s | 6.3 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| 1930s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 1940s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 1950s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 1960s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 1970s | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 1980s | 8.9 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 1990s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 2000s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 2010s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 2020s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
- 1 Australia 9 compare
- 1 Belgium 9 compare
- 1 Costa Rica 9 compare
- 1 Czechia 9 compare
- 1 Denmark 9 compare
- 1 Estonia 9 compare
- 1 Finland 9 compare
- 1 Germany 9 compare
- 1 Iceland 9 compare
- 1 Japan 9 compare
- 1 Latvia 9 compare
- 1 Netherlands 9 compare
- 1 New Zealand 9 compare
- 1 Norway 9 compare
- 1 Seychelles 9 compare
- 1 South Korea 9 compare
- 1 Spain 9 compare
- 1 Sweden 9 compare
- 1 Switzerland 9 compare
- 1 Taiwan 9 compare
More reference data data for Ireland
- Spring temperature anomalies 1.01 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.31 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -0.6528 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies -0.5528 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.8957 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 130.04 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Ireland?
- Democracy in Ireland was 9 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 9 in 1981.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1789.
- How does Ireland rank for democracy?
- Ireland ranks 1st out of 176 regions with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland 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 — 237 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.