Rule of Law Index in Iceland

Iceland: Rule of Law Index was 0.983 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.983
Change on year
up 0.7%
World rank
10th
of 173 countries
All-time high
0.983
in 2019
All-time low
0.94
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Rule of Law Index in Iceland, 1900–2025

00.20.40.60.81190019622025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

The most recent figure for rule of law index in Iceland is 0.983, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.7% on the previous year and up 0.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law index in Iceland peaked at 0.983 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.94, in 1900.

Iceland ranks 10th of 173 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 0.94 0.94 0.94 10
1910s 0.94 0.94 0.94 10
1920s 0.943 0.943 0.943 10
1930s 0.9466 0.945 0.949 10
1940s 0.9556 0.949 0.963 10
1950s 0.964 0.964 0.964 10
1960s 0.964 0.964 0.964 10
1970s 0.964 0.964 0.964 10
1980s 0.964 0.964 0.964 10
1990s 0.9767 0.974 0.979 10
2000s 0.9791 0.979 0.98 10
2010s 0.9814 0.979 0.983 10
2020s 0.9773 0.974 0.983 6

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 7 Norway 0.986 compare
  2. 8 Estonia 0.985 compare
  3. 8 Finland 0.985 compare
  4. 11 Seychelles 0.976 compare
  5. 12 Singapore 0.974 compare
  6. 13 Latvia 0.973 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law index in Iceland?
Rule of law index in Iceland was 0.983 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 0.983 in 2019.
What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 0.94 in 1900.
How does Iceland rank for rule of law index?
Iceland ranks 10th out of 173 countries with data for 2025.
Is rule of law index rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Rule of Law Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Rule of Law Index
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 30,303 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate of the extent to which the government complies with the law, courts are independent, laws transparent, justice accessible, corruption absent, and the bureaucracy is impartial.