Democracy in Malawi
Malawi: Democracy was 5 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Democracy in Malawi, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for democracy in Malawi is 5, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Malawi peaked at 7 in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1900.
That places Malawi 74th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1960s | 2.1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.8 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 1980s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 1990s | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.6 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.9 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 2020s | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More reference data data for Malawi
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.0372 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.606 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.3659 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.9529 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.5269 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 1,313 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 Malawi?
- Democracy in Malawi was 5 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 7 in 2021.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1900.
- How does Malawi rank for democracy?
- Malawi ranks 74th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Malawi 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.