Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) was 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rule of Law - Governance estimate in United Kingdom, 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
The most recent figure for rule of law - governance estimate in United Kingdom is 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 23.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in United Kingdom peaked at 1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2000 and was at its lowest, 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2023.
That places United Kingdom 26th out of 208 countries with data for 2025, putting it 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 United Kingdom, year by year
| Year | approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | — |
| 1998 | 1.67 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +3.5% |
| 2000 | 1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 1.62 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.8% |
| 2003 | 1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.3% |
| 2004 | 1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -4.5% |
| 2005 | 1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +4.1% |
| 2007 | 1.57 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.7% |
| 2008 | 1.47 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -6.6% |
| 2009 | 1.48 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 1.63 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +10.3% |
| 2011 | 1.43 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -12.1% |
| 2012 | 1.48 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +3.5% |
| 2013 | 1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +5.8% |
| 2015 | 1.65 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +4.0% |
| 2016 | 1.59 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.1% |
| 2017 | 1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 1.46 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -8.6% |
| 2019 | 1.42 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -2.5% |
| 2020 | 1.35 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -4.9% |
| 2021 | 1.29 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -4.4% |
| 2022 | 1.3 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -2.4% |
| 2024 | 1.28 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.7% |
| 2025 | 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.6% |
United Kingdom compared with similar countries
- United Kingdom's 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.9506 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 1.3× the median. (75 countries reporting)
- United Kingdom's 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.6192 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 2.0× the median. (53 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.64 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.67 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.56 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.47 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 9 |
| 2010s | 1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.42 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.65 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.29 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.35 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
More reference data data for United Kingdom
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 3.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.97 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 13.26 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.01 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 13.26 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 10.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 6.51 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 15.81 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 59.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 5.48 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rule of law - governance estimate in United Kingdom?
- Rule of law - governance estimate in United Kingdom was 1.27 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 United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 1.68 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2000.
- What is the lowest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.27 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2023.
- How does United Kingdom rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
- United Kingdom ranks 26th out of 208 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United Kingdom 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.