Democracy in Poland

Poland: Democracy was 5 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
5
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 172 countries
All-time high
5
in 1920
All-time low
0
in 1926
Years of data
103
1918–2025

Democracy in Poland, 1918–2025

012345191819712025

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

Analysis

Poland recorded 5 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 103 years on record.

That represents a change of up 25.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Poland peaked at 5 in 1920 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1926.

That places Poland 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

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1910s 1.5 1 2 2
1920s 2.5 0 5 10
1930s 0.7778 0 1 9
1940s 1 1 1 6
1950s 1 1 1 10
1960s 1 1 1 10
1970s 1 1 1 10
1980s 1.1 1 2 10
1990s 4.3 4 5 10
2000s 4 4 4 10
2010s 3.6 3 4 10
2020s 4.17 3 5 6

Countries ranked near Poland

  1. 1 Bolivia 5 compare
  2. 1 Botswana 5 compare
  3. 1 Brazil 5 compare
  4. 1 Dominican Republic 5 compare
  5. 1 East Timor 5 compare
  6. 1 Gambia 5 compare
  7. 1 Guatemala 5 compare
  8. 1 Honduras 5 compare
  9. 1 Ireland 4 compare
  10. 1 Lesotho 5 compare
  11. 1 Luxembourg 4 compare
  12. 1 Maldives 5 compare
  13. 1 Malta 4 compare
  14. 1 Montenegro 5 compare
  15. 1 Nepal 5 compare
  16. 1 Seychelles 5 compare
  17. 1 Solomon Islands 5 compare
  18. 1 Sri Lanka 5 compare

See the full ranking of 175 places →

More reference data data for Poland

All data for Poland →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Poland?
Democracy in Poland was 5 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Poland?
The highest recorded value was 5 in 1920.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Poland?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1926.
How does Poland rank for democracy?
Poland ranks 1st out of 172 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Poland?
Over the last ten years it is up 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Poland 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 — 103 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).