Democracy in United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates: Democracy was 2 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
2
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
57th
of 128 countries
All-time high
2
in 2009
All-time low
1
in 2005
Years of data
11
2005–2025

Democracy in United Arab Emirates, 2005–2025

00.511.522005201520252005: 12007: 12009: 22011: 22013: 12015: 12017: 22019: 12021: 22023: 22025: 2

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

Analysis

United Arab Emirates recorded 2 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.

The figure is up 100.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in United Arab Emirates peaked at 2 in 2009 and was at its lowest, 1, in 2005.

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

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1.33 1 2 3
2010s 1.4 1 2 5
2020s 2 2 2 3

Countries ranked near United Arab Emirates

  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 Nigeria 2 compare
  15. 57 Papua New Guinea 2 compare
  16. 57 Serbia 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

See the full ranking of 128 places →

More reference data data for United Arab Emirates

All data for United Arab Emirates →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in United Arab Emirates?
Democracy in United Arab Emirates was 2 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in United Arab Emirates?
The highest recorded value was 2 in 2009.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in United Arab Emirates?
The lowest recorded value was 1 in 2005.
How does United Arab Emirates rank for democracy?
United Arab Emirates ranks 57th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in United Arab Emirates?
Over the last ten years it is up 100.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United Arab Emirates 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).