Democracy in Brazil

Brazil: Democracy was 4 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
4
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
16th
of 128 countries
All-time high
5
in 2009
All-time low
4
in 2005
Years of data
11
2005–2025

Democracy in Brazil, 2005–2025

0123452005201520252005: 42007: 42009: 52011: 52013: 52015: 52017: 42019: 42021: 42023: 42025: 4

Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Brazil recorded 4 for democracy in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.

The figure is down 20.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Brazil peaked at 5 in 2009 and was at its lowest, 4, in 2005.

That places Brazil 16th out of 128 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 4.33 4 5 3
2010s 4.6 4 5 5
2020s 4 4 4 3

Countries ranked near Brazil

  1. 16 Albania 4 compare
  2. 16 Argentina 4 compare
  3. 16 Armenia 4 compare
  4. 16 Bhutan 4 compare
  5. 16 Bolivia 4 compare
  6. 16 Bulgaria 4 compare
  7. 16 Colombia 4 compare
  8. 16 Dominican Republic 4 compare
  9. 16 Ecuador 4 compare
  10. 16 Ghana 4 compare
  11. 16 Hungary 4 compare
  12. 16 India 4 compare
  13. 16 Lesotho 4 compare
  14. 16 Liberia 4 compare
  15. 16 Malawi 4 compare
  16. 16 Malaysia 4 compare
  17. 16 Mauritius 4 compare
  18. 16 Moldova 4 compare
  19. 16 Mongolia 4 compare
  20. 16 Montenegro 4 compare
  21. 16 Namibia 4 compare
  22. 16 Nepal 4 compare
  23. 16 North Macedonia 4 compare
  24. 16 Panama 4 compare
  25. 16 Paraguay 4 compare
  26. 16 Romania 4 compare
  27. 16 Senegal 4 compare
  28. 16 South Africa 4 compare
  29. 16 Sri Lanka 4 compare
  30. 16 Ukraine 4 compare
  31. 16 Zambia 4 compare

See the full ranking of 128 places →

More reference data data for Brazil

All data for Brazil →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Brazil?
Democracy in Brazil was 4 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Brazil?
The highest recorded value was 5 in 2009.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Brazil?
The lowest recorded value was 4 in 2005.
How does Brazil rank for democracy?
Brazil ranks 16th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Brazil?
Over the last ten years it is down 20.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Brazil data come from?
The figures come from Bertelsmann Transformation Index (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 — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
128 places, 1,394 data points, 2005–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between hard-line autocracies (score 1), moderate autocracies (score 2), highly defective democracies (score 3), defective democracies (score 4), and consolidating democracies (score 5).