Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Malta
Malta: Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) was 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Malta, 1996–2025
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 Malta stood at 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5. That is the lowest value across all 27 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.0% on the previous year and down 39.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in Malta peaked at 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2008 and was at its lowest, 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2025.
That places Malta 56th out of 208 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 27 years of available data.
Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Malta, year by year
| Year | approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1.06 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | — |
| 1998 | 1.28 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +20.4% |
| 2000 | 1.26 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.2% |
| 2002 | 1.39 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +9.8% |
| 2003 | 1.46 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +5.1% |
| 2004 | 1.22 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -16.0% |
| 2005 | 1.51 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +23.5% |
| 2006 | 1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 1.56 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +3.4% |
| 2008 | 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.3% |
| 2009 | 1.42 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -9.9% |
| 2010 | 1.44 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.8% |
| 2011 | 1.24 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -13.8% |
| 2012 | 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.8% |
| 2013 | 1.23 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -2.8% |
| 2014 | 1.04 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -15.9% |
| 2015 | 1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +6.6% |
| 2016 | 1.06 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.8% |
| 2017 | 1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +6.9% |
| 2018 | 1.07 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.8% |
| 2019 | 1.02 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -4.4% |
| 2020 | 0.8876 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -13.1% |
| 2021 | 0.8822 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.6% |
| 2022 | 0.8778 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 0.8216 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -6.4% |
| 2024 | 0.7013 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -14.6% |
| 2025 | 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.0% |
Malta compared with similar countries
- Malta's 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.9506 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 70% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Malta's 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is -0.6968 approx. -2.5 to +2.5. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.17 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.06 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.28 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.43 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.22 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 9 |
| 2010s | 1.16 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.02 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.44 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8061 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 0.8876 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malta
More reference data data for Malta
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0121 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0042 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0205 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0008 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0205 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0404 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0227 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0192 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1009 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0043 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rule of law - governance estimate in Malta?
- Rule of law - governance estimate in Malta was 0.6662 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 Malta?
- The highest recorded value was 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2008.
- What is the lowest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in Malta?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025.
- How does Malta rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
- Malta ranks 56th out of 208 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in Malta?
- Over the last ten years it is down 39.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malta 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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.