Democracy (Lexical Index) in North Korea
North Korea: Democracy (Lexical Index) was 1 in 2025. ▬ Flat
Democracy in North Korea, 1948–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
North Korea recorded 1 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 78 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in North Korea peaked at 1 in 1948 and was at its lowest, 1, in 1948.
That places North Korea 160th out of 198 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
Democracy (Lexical Index) in North Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 1 | — |
| 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 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 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 | 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 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 1 | +0.0% |
North Korea compared with similar countries
- North Korea's 1 is above the median for low income countries, which is 1, 1.0× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- North Korea's 1 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 7, 14% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Countries ranked near North Korea
- 160 Belarus 1 compare
- 160 Cambodia 1 compare
- 160 Cuba 1 compare
- 160 Eswatini 1 compare
- 160 Guinea 1 compare
- 160 Laos 1 compare
- 160 Nicaragua 1 compare
- 160 Oman 1 compare
- 160 Russia 1 compare
- 160 Syria 1 compare
- 160 Tunisia 1 compare
- 160 Turkmenistan 1 compare
- 160 Venezuela 1 compare
- 160 Vietnam 1 compare
- 160 Western Sahara 1 compare
More reference data data for North Korea
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.9593 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.75 (2050)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.3103 °C (2026)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.7425 °C (2026)
- Spring temperature anomalies 2.29 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month -2.22 °C (2026)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - IPCC Agriculture 245.47 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Direct emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 5.57 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Direct emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.91 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 6,873 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in North Korea?
- Democracy in North Korea was 1 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in North Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1948.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in North Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 in 1948.
- How does North Korea rank for democracy?
- North Korea ranks 160th out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in North Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this North Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Lexical Index (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 — 78 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies (score 0), one-party autocracies (score 1), multi-party autocracies without elected executive (score 2), multi-party autocracies (score 3), exclusive democracies (score 4), male democracies (score 5), electoral democracies (score 6), and full democracies (score 7).