Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Nigeria

Nigeria: Rule of Law - Governance estimate was -1.01 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
-1.01 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Change on year
down 7.7%
World rank
164th
of 206 countries
All-time high
-0.7938 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2017
All-time low
-1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2002
Years of data
26
1996–2024

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Nigeria, 1996–2024

-1.6-1.4-1.2-1-0.81996201020241996: -1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.51998: -1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52000: -1.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52002: -1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.52003: -1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.52004: -1.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52005: -1.3 approx. -2.5 to +2.52006: -1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52007: -1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52008: -0.999 approx. -2.5 to +2.52009: -1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52010: -1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52011: -1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52012: -1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52013: -1.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52014: -1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52015: -0.961 approx. -2.5 to +2.52016: -0.879 approx. -2.5 to +2.52017: -0.794 approx. -2.5 to +2.52018: -0.814 approx. -2.5 to +2.52019: -0.838 approx. -2.5 to +2.52020: -0.841 approx. -2.5 to +2.52021: -0.926 approx. -2.5 to +2.52022: -1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52023: -0.935 approx. -2.5 to +2.52024: -1 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 2024, rule of law - governance estimate in Nigeria stood at -1.01 approx. -2.5 to +2.5.

That represents a change of down 7.7% on the previous year and up 11.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in Nigeria peaked at -0.7938 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2017 and was at its lowest, -1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2002.

Nigeria ranks 164th of 206 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Nigeria, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Nigeria, 1996 to 2024.
Year approx. -2.5 to +2.5 Change
1996 -1.14 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
1998 -1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.2%
2000 -1.23 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +8.2%
2002 -1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +24.5%
2003 -1.43 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.6%
2004 -1.24 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -13.1%
2005 -1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.2%
2006 -1.11 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -12.6%
2007 -1.04 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.0%
2008 -0.9991 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.0%
2009 -1 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.5%
2010 -1.12 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +11.1%
2011 -1.06 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.9%
2012 -1.09 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.3%
2013 -1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +9.2%
2014 -1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.5%
2015 -0.9609 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -15.1%
2016 -0.8795 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -8.5%
2017 -0.7938 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -9.7%
2018 -0.8138 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.5%
2019 -0.8377 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.9%
2020 -0.8413 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.4%
2021 -0.9263 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +10.1%
2022 -0.9998 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +7.9%
2023 -0.9348 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.5%
2024 -1.01 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +7.7%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s -1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.14 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 2
2000s -1.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.9991 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 9
2010s -0.9866 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.7938 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 10
2020s -0.9419 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.01 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.8413 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 5

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 161 Guatemala -0.9623 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  2. 162 Ecuador -0.965 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  3. 163 Palestine, State of -0.9894 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  4. 165 Djibouti -1.01 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  5. 166 Pakistan -1.02 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  6. 167 Ethiopia -1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare

See the full ranking of 206 places →

More reference data data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law - governance estimate in Nigeria?
Rule of law - governance estimate in Nigeria was -1.01 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2024, 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 Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was -0.7938 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2017.
What is the lowest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was -1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2002.
How does Nigeria rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
Nigeria ranks 164th out of 206 countries with data for 2024.
Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is up 11.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Nigeria 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 — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Nigeria. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 23 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/nigeria/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/nigeria/">Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Nigeria</a> — Statizoid

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
206 places, 5,270 data points, 1996–2024
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.