Democracy in Nigeria

Nigeria: Democracy was 2 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
2
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
57th
of 128 countries
All-time high
4
in 2005
All-time low
2
in 2009
Years of data
11
2005–2025

Democracy in Nigeria, 2005–2025

012342005201520252005: 42007: 42009: 22011: 22013: 32015: 32017: 32019: 32021: 22023: 22025: 2

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for democracy in Nigeria is 2, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 33.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Nigeria peaked at 4 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 2, in 2009.

That places Nigeria 57th out of 128 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 3.33 2 4 3
2010s 2.8 2 3 5
2020s 2 2 2 3

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 57 Algeria 2 compare
  2. 57 Angola 2 compare
  3. 57 Bangladesh 2 compare
  4. 57 Benin 2 compare
  5. 57 Cote d'Ivoire 2 compare
  6. 57 El Salvador 2 compare
  7. 57 Georgia 2 compare
  8. 57 Guatemala 2 compare
  9. 57 Iraq 2 compare
  10. 57 Jordan 2 compare
  11. 57 Kyrgyzstan 2 compare
  12. 57 Madagascar 2 compare
  13. 57 Mauritania 2 compare
  14. 57 Papua New Guinea 2 compare
  15. 57 Serbia 2 compare
  16. 57 Singapore 2 compare
  17. 57 Tanzania 2 compare
  18. 57 Togo 2 compare
  19. 57 Tunisia 2 compare
  20. 57 Turkey 2 compare
  21. 57 Uganda 2 compare
  22. 57 United Arab Emirates 2 compare

See the full ranking of 128 places →

More reference data data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Nigeria?
Democracy in Nigeria was 2 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 4 in 2005.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 2 in 2009.
How does Nigeria rank for democracy?
Nigeria ranks 57th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is down 33.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nigeria 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).