Democracy in South Korea
South Korea: Democracy was 5 in 2025. ▬ Flat
Democracy in South Korea, 2005–2025
Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, democracy in South Korea stood at 5. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.
The figure is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in South Korea peaked at 5 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 5, in 2005.
South Korea ranks 1st of 128 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| 2010s | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 2020s | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More reference data data for South Korea
- Spring temperature anomalies 1.1 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.7164 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -0.8996 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 2.24 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.9115 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 135 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 South Korea?
- Democracy in South Korea was 5 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 5 in 2005.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 5 in 2005.
- How does South Korea rank for democracy?
- South Korea ranks 1st out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this South Korea 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
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).