Democracy in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Democracy was 5 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2025)
5
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 175 countries
All-time high
5
in 1948
All-time low
0
in 1983
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Democracy in Sri Lanka, 1900–2025
Source: Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 5 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Sri Lanka peaked at 5 in 1948 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1983.
That places Sri Lanka 1st out of 175 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.
Democracy in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 1 | — |
| 1901 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 1948 | 5 | +150.0% |
| 1949 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 1952 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 1971 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1984 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | 0 | — |
| 1987 | 0 | — |
| 1988 | 0 | — |
| 1989 | 0 | — |
| 1990 | 2 | — |
| 1991 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 5 | +150.0% |
| 1996 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 1997 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1 | -75.0% |
| 2001 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 4 | +300.0% |
| 2003 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 2005 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2006 | 0 | — |
| 2007 | 1 | — |
| 2008 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 2011 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 5 | +150.0% |
| 2016 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 2020 | 5 | +25.0% |
| 2021 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 5 | +0.0% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 5 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.5, 3.3× the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 5 is above the median for South Asia, which is 4.5, 1.1× the median. (6 countries reporting)
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 | 1.9 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 1950s | 4.1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 1960s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1970s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.9 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.1 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.6 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.4 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 2020s | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
- 1 Bolivia 5 compare
- 1 Botswana 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
More reference data data for Sri Lanka
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1608 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.316 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1784 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.33 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.539 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1604 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.63 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.15 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9713 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Sri Lanka?
- Democracy in Sri Lanka was 5 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 5 in 1948.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1983.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for democracy?
- Sri Lanka ranks 1st out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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).