Democracy in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: Democracy was 4 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
4
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
16th
of 128 countries
All-time high
4
in 2005
All-time low
2
in 2011
Years of data
11
2005–2025

Democracy in Sri Lanka, 2005–2025

012342005201520252005: 42007: 42009: 32011: 22013: 22015: 22017: 42019: 42021: 42023: 42025: 4

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for democracy in Sri Lanka is 4, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 100.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Sri Lanka peaked at 4 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 2, in 2011.

Sri Lanka ranks 16th of 128 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 3.67 3 4 3
2010s 2.8 2 4 5
2020s 4 4 4 3

Countries ranked near Sri Lanka

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

See the full ranking of 128 places →

More reference data data for Sri Lanka

All data for Sri Lanka →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Sri Lanka?
Democracy in Sri Lanka was 4 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Sri Lanka?
The highest recorded value was 4 in 2005.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Sri Lanka?
The lowest recorded value was 2 in 2011.
How does Sri Lanka rank for democracy?
Sri Lanka ranks 16th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
Over the last ten years it is up 100.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sri Lanka 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).