Democracy in Taiwan
Taiwan: Democracy was 9 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Democracy in Taiwan, 1789–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Taiwan recorded 9 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 232 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Taiwan peaked at 9 in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1789.
That places Taiwan 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
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1790s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1800s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1890s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.3 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 2000s | 8.9 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 2020s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Taiwan
- 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
More reference data data for Taiwan
- Democracy 7 (2025)
- Elected parliament 1 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected 1 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating 1 (2025)
- Free country 2 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
- Engaged Society Score 1.85 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Taiwan?
- Democracy in Taiwan was 9 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Taiwan?
- The highest recorded value was 9 in 2000.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Taiwan?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1789.
- How does Taiwan rank for democracy?
- Taiwan ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Taiwan?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Taiwan 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 — 232 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.