Democracy in Botswana
Botswana: Democracy was 5 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Democracy in Botswana, 1900–2025
Source: Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Botswana recorded 5 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 66.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Botswana peaked at 5 in 1967 and was at its lowest, 1, in 1900.
That places Botswana 1st out of 172 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1920s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1.1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 1960s | 2.9 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 1970s | 4.1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 1980s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1990s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2000s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.5 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.83 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Botswana
- 1 Bolivia 5 compare
- 1 Brazil 5 compare
- 1 Dominican Republic 5 compare
- 1 East Timor 5 compare
- 1 Gambia 5 compare
- 1 Guatemala 5 compare
- 1 Honduras 5 compare
- 1 Lesotho 5 compare
- 1 Maldives 5 compare
- 1 Montenegro 5 compare
- 1 Nepal 5 compare
- 1 Poland 5 compare
- 1 Seychelles 5 compare
- 1 Solomon Islands 5 compare
- 1 Sri Lanka 5 compare
More reference data data for Botswana
- Spring temperature anomalies -1.39 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.8179 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -0.391 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 1.76 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -1.55 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 202.64 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 Botswana?
- Democracy in Botswana was 5 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Botswana?
- The highest recorded value was 5 in 1967.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Botswana?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 in 1900.
- How does Botswana rank for democracy?
- Botswana ranks 1st out of 172 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Botswana?
- Over the last ten years it is up 66.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Botswana data come from?
- The figures come from Episodes of Regime Transformation (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 — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Political regime of a country using the classification by the Episodes of Regime Transformation-project. It distinguishes between hardening autocracies (score 0), stable autocracies (score 1), liberalizing autocracies (score 2), eroding democracies (score 3), stable democracies (score 4), and deepening democracies (score 5).