Statizoid

Democratic change in South Korea

South Korea: Democratic change was 1 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
1
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
23rd
of 175 countries
All-time high
2
in 1945
All-time low
0
in 1961
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Democratic change in South Korea, 1900–2025

00.511.52190019622025

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for democratic change in South Korea is 1, measured in 2025.

Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.

Over the whole period, democratic change in South Korea peaked at 2 in 1945 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1961.

South Korea ranks 23rd of 175 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Democratic change in South Korea, 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 2 +100.0%
1946 2 +0.0%
1947 2 +0.0%
1948 2 +0.0%
1949 2 +0.0%
1950 1 -50.0%
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 1 +0.0%
1960 1 +0.0%
1961 0 -100.0%
1962 0 —
1963 2 —
1964 2 +0.0%
1965 1 -50.0%
1966 1 +0.0%
1967 1 +0.0%
1968 1 +0.0%
1969 1 +0.0%
1970 1 +0.0%
1971 1 +0.0%
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 2 +100.0%
1982 2 +0.0%
1983 2 +0.0%
1984 2 +0.0%
1985 2 +0.0%
1986 2 +0.0%
1987 2 +0.0%
1988 2 +0.0%
1989 2 +0.0%
1990 2 +0.0%
1991 2 +0.0%
1992 2 +0.0%
1993 2 +0.0%
1994 2 +0.0%
1995 2 +0.0%
1996 2 +0.0%
1997 2 +0.0%
1998 2 +0.0%
1999 2 +0.0%
2000 2 +0.0%
2001 1 -50.0%
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 0 -100.0%
2009 0 —
2010 0 —
2011 0 —
2012 0 —
2013 0 —
2014 0 —
2015 1 —
2016 2 +100.0%
2017 2 +0.0%
2018 1 -50.0%
2019 0 -100.0%
2020 0 —
2021 0 —
2022 0 —
2023 0 —
2024 1 —
2025 1 +0.0%

South Korea compared with similar countries

  • South Korea's 1 is above the median for high income countries, which is 1, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • South Korea's 1 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 1, 1.0× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 1 1 1 10
1910s 1 1 1 10
1920s 1 1 1 10
1930s 1 1 1 10
1940s 1.5 1 2 10
1950s 1 1 1 10
1960s 1 0 2 10
1970s 1 1 1 10
1980s 1.9 1 2 10
1990s 2 2 2 10
2000s 0.9 0 2 10
2010s 0.6 0 2 10
2020s 0.3333 0 1 6

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 23 Albania 1 compare
  2. 23 Algeria 1 compare
  3. 23 Angola 1 compare
  4. 23 Australia 1 compare
  5. 23 Austria 1 compare
  6. 23 Azerbaijan 1 compare
  7. 23 Bahrain 1 compare
  8. 23 Bangladesh 1 compare
  9. 23 Barbados 1 compare
  10. 23 Belgium 1 compare
  11. 23 Bhutan 1 compare
  12. 23 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 compare
  13. 23 Bulgaria 1 compare
  14. 23 Burundi 1 compare
  15. 23 Cameroon 1 compare
  16. 23 Canada 1 compare
  17. 23 Cape Verde 1 compare
  18. 23 Chad 1 compare
  19. 23 Chile 1 compare
  20. 23 China 1 compare
  21. 23 Colombia 1 compare
  22. 23 Comoros 1 compare
  23. 23 Congo 1 compare
  24. 23 Costa Rica 1 compare
  25. 23 Cuba 1 compare
  26. 23 Cyprus 1 compare
  27. 23 Czechia 1 compare
  28. 23 Democratic Republic of Congo 1 compare
  29. 23 Denmark 1 compare
  30. 23 Djibouti 1 compare
  31. 23 Ecuador 1 compare
  32. 23 Egypt 1 compare
  33. 23 Equatorial Guinea 1 compare
  34. 23 Eritrea 1 compare
  35. 23 Estonia 1 compare
  36. 23 Eswatini 1 compare
  37. 23 Ethiopia 1 compare
  38. 23 Finland 1 compare
  39. 23 France 1 compare
  40. 23 Gabon 1 compare
  41. 23 Germany 1 compare
  42. 23 Ghana 1 compare
  43. 23 Iceland 1 compare
  44. 23 Iran 1 compare
  45. 23 Iraq 1 compare
  46. 23 Ireland 1 compare
  47. 23 Israel 1 compare
  48. 23 Jamaica 1 compare
  49. 23 Japan 1 compare
  50. 23 Jordan 1 compare
  51. 23 Kazakhstan 1 compare
  52. 23 Kenya 1 compare
  53. 23 Laos 1 compare
  54. 23 Latvia 1 compare
  55. 23 Lebanon 1 compare
  56. 23 Liberia 1 compare
  57. 23 Lithuania 1 compare
  58. 23 Luxembourg 1 compare
  59. 23 Malawi 1 compare
  60. 23 Malaysia 1 compare
  61. 23 Malta 1 compare
  62. 23 Mongolia 1 compare
  63. 23 Morocco 1 compare
  64. 23 Namibia 1 compare
  65. 23 Netherlands 1 compare
  66. 23 New Zealand 1 compare
  67. 23 Nigeria 1 compare
  68. 23 North Korea 1 compare
  69. 23 North Macedonia 1 compare
  70. 23 Norway 1 compare
  71. 23 Oman 1 compare
  72. 23 Palestine 1 compare
  73. 23 Panama 1 compare
  74. 23 Papua New Guinea 1 compare
  75. 23 Paraguay 1 compare
  76. 23 Portugal 1 compare
  77. 23 Qatar 1 compare
  78. 23 Russia 1 compare
  79. 23 Rwanda 1 compare
  80. 23 Sao Tome and Principe 1 compare
  81. 23 Saudi Arabia 1 compare
  82. 23 Sierra Leone 1 compare
  83. 23 Singapore 1 compare
  84. 23 Somalia 1 compare
  85. 23 South Africa 1 compare
  86. 23 South Sudan 1 compare
  87. 23 Spain 1 compare
  88. 23 Sudan 1 compare
  89. 23 Suriname 1 compare
  90. 23 Sweden 1 compare
  91. 23 Switzerland 1 compare
  92. 23 Syria 1 compare
  93. 23 Taiwan 1 compare
  94. 23 Tajikistan 1 compare
  95. 23 Tanzania 1 compare
  96. 23 Trinidad and Tobago 1 compare
  97. 23 Turkey 1 compare
  98. 23 Turkmenistan 1 compare
  99. 23 Uganda 1 compare
  100. 23 United Arab Emirates 1 compare
  101. 23 Uruguay 1 compare
  102. 23 Uzbekistan 1 compare
  103. 23 Vanuatu 1 compare
  104. 23 Venezuela 1 compare
  105. 23 Vietnam 1 compare
  106. 23 Yemen 1 compare
  107. 23 Zimbabwe 1 compare

See the full ranking of 175 places →

More reference data data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is democratic change in South Korea?
Democratic change in South Korea was 1 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democratic change recorded in South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 2 in 1945.
What is the lowest democratic change recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1961.
How does South Korea rank for democratic change?
South Korea ranks 23rd out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
Is democratic change rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this South Korea 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.

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Democratic change in South Korea. Statizoid, drawing on Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 23 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-regime-ert/korea-rep/

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About this data

Indicator
Democratic change
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

Data by Episodes of Regime Transformation and V-Dem.