Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Portugal
Portugal: Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) was 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Portugal, 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 Portugal stood at 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.4% on the previous year and down 8.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in Portugal peaked at 1.28 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2003 and was at its lowest, 0.8892 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2011.
Portugal ranks 34th of 208 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
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 Portugal, year by year
| Year | approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | — |
| 1998 | 1.14 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -10.4% |
| 2000 | 1.11 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -2.8% |
| 2002 | 1.26 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +13.8% |
| 2003 | 1.28 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.5% |
| 2004 | 1.21 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.2% |
| 2005 | 1.17 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.2% |
| 2006 | 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -10.5% |
| 2007 | 1.17 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +11.6% |
| 2008 | 1.12 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -4.6% |
| 2009 | 1.06 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.2% |
| 2010 | 0.9025 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -15.0% |
| 2011 | 0.8892 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.5% |
| 2012 | 0.9055 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.8% |
| 2013 | 0.9226 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.9% |
| 2014 | 1.02 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +10.1% |
| 2015 | 1.14 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +12.0% |
| 2016 | 1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +5.1% |
| 2018 | 1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -4.5% |
| 2019 | 1.12 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 1.16 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +3.1% |
| 2021 | 1.17 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.0% |
| 2023 | 1.04 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -8.1% |
| 2024 | 1 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.8% |
| 2025 | 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +4.4% |
Portugal compared with similar countries
- Portugal's 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.9506 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 1.1× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Portugal's 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.6192 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 1.7× the median. (53 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.21 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.14 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.16 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.28 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 9 |
| 2010s | 1.03 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 0.8892 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.19 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.09 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.17 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More reference data data for Portugal
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5144 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.4372 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0472 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.72 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 6.9 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2572 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rule of law - governance estimate in Portugal?
- Rule of law - governance estimate in Portugal was 1.05 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 Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 1.28 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2003.
- What is the lowest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8892 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2011.
- How does Portugal rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
- Portugal ranks 34th out of 208 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Portugal 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.