Democracy in Norway

Norway: Democracy was 9 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
9
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 176 countries
All-time high
9
in 1964
All-time low
0
in 1807
Years of data
219
1807–2025

Democracy in Norway, 1807–2025

0246810180719162025

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

Analysis

Norway recorded 9 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 219 years on record.

The figure is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Norway peaked at 9 in 1964 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1807.

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

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1800s 0 0 0 3
1810s 0 0 0 10
1820s 0 0 0 10
1830s 0 0 0 10
1840s 0 0 0 10
1850s 0 0 0 10
1860s 0 0 0 10
1870s 0 0 0 10
1880s 2.4 0 3 10
1890s 3 3 3 10
1900s 3.8 3 5 10
1910s 7 7 7 10
1920s 7 7 7 10
1930s 7 7 7 10
1940s 4.1 0 8 10
1950s 8 8 8 10
1960s 8.6 8 9 10
1970s 9 9 9 10
1980s 9 9 9 10
1990s 9 9 9 10
2000s 9 9 9 10
2010s 9 9 9 10
2020s 8.33 8 9 6

Countries ranked near Norway

  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 Japan 9 compare
  11. 1 Latvia 9 compare
  12. 1 Netherlands 9 compare
  13. 1 New Zealand 9 compare
  14. 1 Seychelles 9 compare
  15. 1 South Korea 9 compare
  16. 1 Spain 9 compare
  17. 1 Sweden 9 compare
  18. 1 Switzerland 9 compare
  19. 1 Taiwan 9 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Norway

All data for Norway →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Norway?
Democracy in Norway was 9 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Norway?
The highest recorded value was 9 in 1964.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Norway?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1807.
How does Norway rank for democracy?
Norway ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Norway?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Norway 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 — 219 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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.