Statizoid

Democracy in New Zealand

New Zealand: Democracy was 9 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
9
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 176 countries
All-time high
9
in 1980
All-time low
0
in 1853
Years of data
153
1853–2025

Democracy in New Zealand, 1853–2025

0246810185319392025

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

Analysis

New Zealand recorded 9 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 153 years on record.

That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in New Zealand peaked at 9 in 1980 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1853.

That places New Zealand 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 153 years of available data.

Democracy in New Zealand, year by year

Year Value Change
1853 0 —
1854 0 —
1855 0 —
1856 0 —
1857 0 —
1858 0 —
1859 0 —
1860 0 —
1861 0 —
1866 0 —
1867 0 —
1868 0 —
1869 0 —
1870 0 —
1887 7 —
1888 7 +0.0%
1889 7 +0.0%
1890 7 +0.0%
1891 7 +0.0%
1892 7 +0.0%
1893 7 +0.0%
1894 7 +0.0%
1895 7 +0.0%
1896 7 +0.0%
1897 7 +0.0%
1898 7 +0.0%
1899 7 +0.0%
1900 7 +0.0%
1901 7 +0.0%
1902 7 +0.0%
1903 7 +0.0%
1904 7 +0.0%
1905 7 +0.0%
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 8 +14.3%
1914 8 +0.0%
1915 8 +0.0%
1916 8 +0.0%
1917 8 +0.0%
1918 8 +0.0%
1919 8 +0.0%
1920 8 +0.0%
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 8 +0.0%
1931 8 +0.0%
1932 8 +0.0%
1933 8 +0.0%
1934 8 +0.0%
1935 8 +0.0%
1936 8 +0.0%
1937 8 +0.0%
1938 8 +0.0%
1939 8 +0.0%
1940 8 +0.0%
1941 8 +0.0%
1942 8 +0.0%
1943 8 +0.0%
1944 8 +0.0%
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 9 +12.5%
1981 9 +0.0%
1982 9 +0.0%
1983 9 +0.0%
1984 9 +0.0%
1985 9 +0.0%
1986 9 +0.0%
1987 9 +0.0%
1988 9 +0.0%
1989 9 +0.0%
1990 9 +0.0%
1991 9 +0.0%
1992 9 +0.0%
1993 9 +0.0%
1994 9 +0.0%
1995 9 +0.0%
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 8 -11.1%
2022 9 +12.5%
2023 9 +0.0%
2024 9 +0.0%
2025 9 +0.0%

New Zealand compared with similar countries

  • New Zealand's 9 is above the median for high income countries, which is 8, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • New Zealand's 9 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.5, 2.6× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1850s 0 0 0 7
1860s 0 0 0 6
1870s 0 0 0 1
1880s 7 7 7 3
1890s 7 7 7 10
1900s 7 7 7 10
1910s 7.7 7 8 10
1920s 8 8 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 9 9 9 10
1990s 9 9 9 10
2000s 9 9 9 10
2010s 9 9 9 10
2020s 8.83 8 9 6

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  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 Iceland 9 compare
  10. 1 Ireland 9 compare
  11. 1 Japan 9 compare
  12. 1 Latvia 9 compare
  13. 1 Luxembourg 9 compare
  14. 1 Netherlands 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 New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in New Zealand?
Democracy in New Zealand was 9 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 9 in 1980.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1853.
How does New Zealand rank for democracy?
New Zealand ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this New Zealand 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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Democracy in New Zealand. 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/new-zealand/

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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.