Rule of Law - Governance estimate in United States

United States: Rule of Law - Governance estimate was 0.9618 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
0.9618 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
40th
of 206 countries
All-time high
1.69 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2000
All-time low
0.9607 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2023
Years of data
26
1996–2024

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in United States, 1996–2024

00.511.51996201020241996: 1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.51998: 1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52000: 1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.52002: 1.7 approx. -2.5 to +2.52003: 1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.52004: 1.5 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: 1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.52010: 1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.52011: 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.52012: 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.52013: 1.3 approx. -2.5 to +2.52014: 1.3 approx. -2.5 to +2.52015: 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.52016: 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.52017: 1.3 approx. -2.5 to +2.52018: 1.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52019: 1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52020: 1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52021: 1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52022: 1.1 approx. -2.5 to +2.52023: 0.961 approx. -2.5 to +2.52024: 0.962 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

The most recent figure for rule of law - governance estimate in United States is 0.9618 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, measured in 2024.

That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and down 28.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in United States peaked at 1.69 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.9607 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2023.

That places United States 40th out of 206 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in United States, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in United States, 1996 to 2024.
Year approx. -2.5 to +2.5 Change
1996 1.54 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
1998 1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +4.0%
2000 1.69 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +5.6%
2002 1.65 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -2.0%
2003 1.59 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.5%
2004 1.5 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -5.7%
2005 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +4.9%
2006 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.3%
2007 1.56 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.3%
2008 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +1.4%
2009 1.48 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.2%
2010 1.51 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +1.7%
2011 1.36 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -9.7%
2012 1.38 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +1.5%
2013 1.3 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -6.0%
2014 1.34 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +3.0%
2015 1.38 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.7%
2016 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +1.5%
2017 1.32 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -5.5%
2018 1.17 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -11.2%
2019 1.12 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.1%
2020 1 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -10.6%
2021 1.03 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.3%
2022 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.3%
2023 0.9607 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -8.7%
2024 0.9618 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 1.57 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 1.54 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 1.6 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 2
2000s 1.58 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 1.48 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 1.69 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 9
2010s 1.33 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 1.12 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 1.51 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 10
2020s 1 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.9607 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 1.05 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 5

Countries ranked near United States

  1. 37 Slovenia 0.9787 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  2. 38 France 0.9787 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  3. 39 Micronesia (country) 0.9769 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  4. 41 Uruguay 0.9506 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  5. 42 Spain 0.9318 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  6. 43 Hong Kong 0.921 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare

See the full ranking of 206 places →

More reference data data for United States

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law - governance estimate in United States?
Rule of law - governance estimate in United States was 0.9618 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 United States?
The highest recorded value was 1.69 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2000.
What is the lowest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in United States?
The lowest recorded value was 0.9607 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2023.
How does United States rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
United States ranks 40th out of 206 countries with data for 2024.
Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in United States?
Over the last ten years it is down 28.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States 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 United States. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/united-states/

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/united-states/">Rule of Law - Governance estimate in United States</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.