Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in United States
United States: Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) was 0.7914 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rule of Law - Governance estimate in United States, 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 States is 0.7914 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 27 years on record.
That represents a change of down 20.6% on the previous year and down 43.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in United States peaked at 1.64 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2000 and was at its lowest, 0.7914 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2025.
That places United States 47th 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 States, year by year
| Year | approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1.51 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | — |
| 1998 | 1.56 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +3.2% |
| 2000 | 1.64 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +5.4% |
| 2002 | 1.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -2.1% |
| 2003 | 1.55 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -3.3% |
| 2004 | 1.46 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -6.0% |
| 2005 | 1.54 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +5.8% |
| 2006 | 1.57 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.7% |
| 2007 | 1.56 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -1.0% |
| 2008 | 1.57 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 1.49 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -4.5% |
| 2010 | 1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.4% |
| 2011 | 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -7.8% |
| 2012 | 1.41 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 1.34 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.2% |
| 2014 | 1.38 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +2.0% |
| 2016 | 1.4 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 1.33 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -5.0% |
| 2018 | 1.16 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -13.0% |
| 2019 | 1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -2.4% |
| 2020 | 1.03 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -9.2% |
| 2021 | 1.07 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +4.2% |
| 2022 | 1.09 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | +2.0% |
| 2023 | 1.02 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -6.7% |
| 2024 | 0.9972 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -2.3% |
| 2025 | 0.7914 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | -20.6% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.7914 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.9506 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 83% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.53 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.51 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.56 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 2 |
| 2000s | 1.55 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.46 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.64 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 9 |
| 2010s | 1.35 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.13 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.52 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 0.7914 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 1.09 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 19.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 20.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 64.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 52.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 133.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 589.96 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 112.69 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rule of law - governance estimate in United States?
- Rule of law - governance estimate in United States was 0.7914 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 States?
- The highest recorded value was 1.64 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 0.7914 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2025.
- How does United States rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
- United States ranks 47th out of 208 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 43.7%. 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 — 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.