Democratic change in Botswana
Botswana: Democratic change was 2 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
2
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 175 countries
All-time high
2
in 1959
All-time low
0
in 2015
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Democratic change in Botswana, 1900–2025
Source: Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for democratic change in Botswana is 2, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
Over the whole period, democratic change in Botswana peaked at 2 in 1959 and was at its lowest, 0, in 2015.
That places Botswana 1st out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 126 years of available data.
Democratic change in Botswana, 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 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 1960 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 1 | -50.0% |
| 1972 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2016 | 0 | — |
| 2017 | 0 | — |
| 2018 | 0 | — |
| 2019 | 0 | — |
| 2020 | 0 | — |
| 2021 | 0 | — |
| 2022 | 0 | — |
| 2023 | 1 | — |
| 2024 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 2025 | 2 | +0.0% |
Botswana compared with similar countries
- Botswana's 2 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1, 2.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
- Botswana's 2 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1, 2.0× the median. (48 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 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1.1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 1960s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8333 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Botswana
- 1 Benin 2 compare
- 1 Bolivia 2 compare
- 1 Brazil 2 compare
- 1 Dominican Republic 2 compare
- 1 East Timor 2 compare
- 1 Fiji 2 compare
- 1 Gambia 2 compare
- 1 Guatemala 2 compare
- 1 Honduras 2 compare
- 1 Lesotho 2 compare
- 1 Maldives 2 compare
- 1 Mauritius 2 compare
- 1 Montenegro 2 compare
- 1 Nepal 2 compare
- 1 Poland 2 compare
- 1 Seychelles 2 compare
- 1 Solomon Islands 2 compare
- 1 Sri Lanka 2 compare
- 1 Thailand 2 compare
- 1 Tunisia 2 compare
- 1 Zambia 2 compare
More reference data data for Botswana
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0472 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0078 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1582 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0825 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 6.97 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 7.25 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0424 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democratic change in Botswana?
- Democratic change in Botswana was 2 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democratic change recorded in Botswana?
- The highest recorded value was 2 in 1959.
- What is the lowest democratic change recorded in Botswana?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 2015.
- How does Botswana rank for democratic change?
- Botswana ranks 1st out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- 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 Democratic change. 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
Data by Episodes of Regime Transformation and V-Dem.