Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Democratic Republic of Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo: Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) was -1.66 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
-1.66 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Change on year
up 0.9%
World rank
198th
of 208 countries
All-time high
-1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2014
All-time low
-2.23 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 1998
Years of data
27
1996–2025

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1996–2025

-2.2-2-1.8-1.61996201020251996: -2 approx. -2.5 to +2.51998: -2.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52000: -2.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52002: -2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52003: -2.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52004: -1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.52005: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52006: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52007: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52008: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52009: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52010: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52011: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52012: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52013: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52014: -1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.52015: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52016: -1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.52017: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52018: -1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.52019: -1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.52020: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52021: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52022: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52023: -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52024: -1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.52025: -1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.5

Source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Measured in approx. -2.5 to +2.5.

Analysis

In 2025, rule of law - governance estimate in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at -1.66 approx. -2.5 to +2.5.

That represents a change of up 0.9% on the previous year and down 5.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at -1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2014 and was at its lowest, -2.23 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 1998.

That places Democratic Republic of Congo 198th out of 208 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.

Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1996 to 2025.
Year approx. -2.5 to +2.5 Change
1996 -1.99 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 —
1998 -2.23 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +12.0%
2000 -2.21 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.1%
2002 -2 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -9.4%
2003 -2.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.7%
2004 -1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -18.0%
2005 -1.62 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.8%
2006 -1.62 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.2%
2007 -1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.4%
2008 -1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.0%
2009 -1.62 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.0%
2010 -1.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.0%
2011 -1.64 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +1.4%
2012 -1.64 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.3%
2013 -1.59 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.4%
2014 -1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.3%
2015 -1.57 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +3.7%
2016 -1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -2.7%
2017 -1.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +5.0%
2018 -1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +4.3%
2019 -1.67 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.7%
2020 -1.63 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.8%
2021 -1.55 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -5.1%
2022 -1.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +4.0%
2023 -1.65 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.0%
2024 -1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.0%
2025 -1.66 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.9%

Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries

  • Democratic Republic of Congo's -1.66 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is below the median for low income countries, which is -1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 1.3× the median. (25 countries reporting)
  • Democratic Republic of Congo's -1.66 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is -0.8846 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 1.9× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s -2.11 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -2.23 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.99 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 2
2000s -1.78 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -2.21 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 9
2010s -1.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 10
2020s -1.63 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.55 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 6

Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo

  1. 195 Nicaragua -1.59 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  2. 196 Haiti -1.62 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  3. 197 Libya -1.65 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  4. 199 Central African Republic -1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  5. 200 Myanmar -1.77 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  6. 201 Eritrea -1.77 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare

See the full ranking of 208 places →

More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo

All data for Democratic Republic of Congo →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law - governance estimate in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Rule of law - governance estimate in Democratic Republic of Congo was -1.66 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025, according to The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG).
What is the highest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The highest recorded value was -1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2014.
What is the lowest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
The lowest recorded value was -2.23 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 1998.
How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 198th out of 208 countries with data for 2025.
Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
Over the last ten years it is down 5.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
The figures come from The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), published as part of Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Democratic Republic of Congo. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 14 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/congo-dem-rep/

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About this data

Indicator
Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5)
Unit
approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Source
The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
208 places, 5,527 data points, 1996–2025
Last refreshed

Rule of Law (RL) captures perceptions of the extent to which agents respect and follow the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police, courts, and the likelihood of crime and violence. Governance estimate from the aggregation model, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) standard error. The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance estimate is based. The standard error indicates the precision of the governance estimate. Larger values indicate less precise estimates. A 90% confidence interval for the governance estimate is given by the estimate +/- 1.64 times the standard error.