Democratic change in Zambia
Zambia: Democratic change was 2 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Democratic change in Zambia, 1911–2025
Source: Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for democratic change in Zambia is 2, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 113 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over five years.
Over the whole period, democratic change in Zambia peaked at 2 in 1963 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1969.
That places Zambia 1st out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 113 years of available data.
Democratic change in Zambia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 1 | — |
| 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 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 1964 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 1 | -50.0% |
| 1967 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1970 | 0 | — |
| 1971 | 0 | — |
| 1972 | 0 | — |
| 1973 | 0 | — |
| 1974 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | 1 | — |
| 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 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 1991 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1 | -50.0% |
| 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 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2012 | 0 | — |
| 2013 | 0 | — |
| 2014 | 0 | — |
| 2015 | 0 | — |
| 2016 | 0 | — |
| 2017 | 0 | — |
| 2020 | 2 | — |
| 2021 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 2 | +0.0% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 2 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1, 2.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Zambia'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 1920s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.2 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.5 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.125 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 2020s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
- 1 Benin 2 compare
- 1 Bolivia 2 compare
- 1 Botswana 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
More reference data data for Zambia
- Exchange rate, new LCU per USD extended backward, period average 18.94 (2026)
- Exchange rate, old LCU per USD extended forward, period average 18.94 (2026)
- Official exchange rate, LCU per USD, period average 18.94 (2026)
- Global number of reported disasters by size, gaps filled 0 events (2025)
- Annual precipitation, annual growth rate 40.84 % change on previous year (2025)
- Free country, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Civil liberties rating, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Civil liberties rating, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Consumer price index 483.32 2010 = 100 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democratic change in Zambia?
- Democratic change in Zambia 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 2 in 1963.
- What is the lowest democratic change recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1969.
- How does Zambia rank for democratic change?
- Zambia ranks 1st out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Where does this Zambia 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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CSV · JSON — 113 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.