Statizoid

Democracy in Iran

Iran: Democracy was 1 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
87th
of 172 countries
All-time high
2
in 1906
All-time low
0
in 1953
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Democracy in Iran, 1900–2025

00.511.52190019622025

Source: Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, democracy in Iran stood at 1.

That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Iran peaked at 2 in 1906 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1953.

That places Iran 87th out of 172 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 126 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 1.4 1 2 10
1910s 1.1 1 2 10
1920s 1 1 1 10
1930s 1 1 1 10
1940s 1 1 1 10
1950s 0.8 0 1 10
1960s 1 1 1 10
1970s 1 1 1 10
1980s 1 1 1 10
1990s 1 1 1 10
2000s 1 1 1 10
2010s 1 1 1 10
2020s 1 1 1 6

Countries ranked near Iran

  1. 87 Albania 1 compare
  2. 87 Algeria 1 compare
  3. 87 Angola 1 compare
  4. 87 Azerbaijan 1 compare
  5. 87 Bahrain 1 compare
  6. 87 Bangladesh 1 compare
  7. 87 Burundi 1 compare
  8. 87 Cameroon 1 compare
  9. 87 Chad 1 compare
  10. 87 China 1 compare
  11. 87 Comoros 1 compare
  12. 87 Congo 1 compare
  13. 87 Cuba 1 compare
  14. 87 Democratic Republic of Congo 1 compare
  15. 87 Egypt 1 compare
  16. 87 Equatorial Guinea 1 compare
  17. 87 Eritrea 1 compare
  18. 87 Eswatini 1 compare
  19. 87 Ethiopia 1 compare
  20. 87 Gabon 1 compare
  21. 87 Iraq 1 compare
  22. 87 Jordan 1 compare
  23. 87 Kazakhstan 1 compare
  24. 87 Laos 1 compare
  25. 87 Lebanon 1 compare
  26. 87 Malaysia 1 compare
  27. 87 Mongolia 1 compare
  28. 87 Morocco 1 compare
  29. 87 Nigeria 1 compare
  30. 87 North Korea 1 compare
  31. 87 Oman 1 compare
  32. 87 Palestine 1 compare
  33. 87 Papua New Guinea 1 compare
  34. 87 Qatar 1 compare
  35. 87 Russia 1 compare
  36. 87 Rwanda 1 compare
  37. 87 Saudi Arabia 1 compare
  38. 87 Sierra Leone 1 compare
  39. 87 Singapore 1 compare
  40. 87 Somalia 1 compare
  41. 87 South Sudan 1 compare
  42. 87 Sudan 1 compare
  43. 87 Syria 1 compare
  44. 87 Tajikistan 1 compare
  45. 87 Tanzania 1 compare
  46. 87 Turkey 1 compare
  47. 87 Turkmenistan 1 compare
  48. 87 Uganda 1 compare
  49. 87 United Arab Emirates 1 compare
  50. 87 Uzbekistan 1 compare
  51. 87 Venezuela 1 compare
  52. 87 Vietnam 1 compare
  53. 87 Yemen 1 compare
  54. 87 Zimbabwe 1 compare

See the full ranking of 175 places →

More reference data data for Iran

All data for Iran →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Iran?
Democracy in Iran was 1 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Iran?
The highest recorded value was 2 in 1906.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Iran?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1953.
How does Iran rank for democracy?
Iran ranks 87th out of 172 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Iran?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Iran 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

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
175 places, 19,128 data points, 1900–2025
Last refreshed

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).