What is rule of law index in South Korea?

Rule of law index in South Korea was 0.917 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest rule of law index recorded in South Korea?

The highest recorded value was 0.952 in 2020.

What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in South Korea?

The lowest recorded value was 0.123 in 1849.

How does South Korea rank for rule of law index?

South Korea ranks 31st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is rule of law index rising or falling in South Korea?

Over the last ten years it is up 10.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

Where does this South Korea 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.

Rule of Law Index in South Korea

Name: Rule of Law Index in South Korea
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

South Korea: Rule of Law Index was 0.917 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)

0.917

Change on year

up 4.6%

World rank

31st

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.952

in 2020

All-time low

0.123

in 1849

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Rule of Law Index in South Korea, 1789–2025

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

Analysis

South Korea recorded 0.917 for rule of law index in 2025.

The figure is up 4.6% on the previous year and up 10.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law index in South Korea peaked at 0.952 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.123, in 1849.

South Korea ranks 31st of 176 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Rule of Law Index in South Korea, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law Index in South Korea, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.25	—
1790	0.25	+0.0%
1791	0.25	+0.0%
1792	0.25	+0.0%
1793	0.25	+0.0%
1794	0.25	+0.0%
1795	0.25	+0.0%
1796	0.25	+0.0%
1797	0.25	+0.0%
1798	0.25	+0.0%
1799	0.25	+0.0%
1800	0.179	-28.4%
1801	0.179	+0.0%
1802	0.179	+0.0%
1803	0.179	+0.0%
1804	0.179	+0.0%
1805	0.179	+0.0%
1806	0.179	+0.0%
1807	0.179	+0.0%
1808	0.179	+0.0%
1809	0.179	+0.0%
1810	0.179	+0.0%
1811	0.179	+0.0%
1812	0.179	+0.0%
1813	0.179	+0.0%
1814	0.179	+0.0%
1815	0.179	+0.0%
1816	0.179	+0.0%
1817	0.179	+0.0%
1818	0.179	+0.0%
1819	0.179	+0.0%
1820	0.179	+0.0%
1821	0.179	+0.0%
1822	0.179	+0.0%
1823	0.179	+0.0%
1824	0.179	+0.0%
1825	0.179	+0.0%
1826	0.179	+0.0%
1827	0.179	+0.0%
1828	0.179	+0.0%
1829	0.179	+0.0%
1830	0.179	+0.0%
1831	0.179	+0.0%
1832	0.179	+0.0%
1833	0.179	+0.0%
1834	0.179	+0.0%
1835	0.179	+0.0%
1836	0.179	+0.0%
1837	0.179	+0.0%
1838	0.179	+0.0%
1839	0.179	+0.0%
1840	0.162	-9.5%
1841	0.162	+0.0%
1842	0.162	+0.0%
1843	0.162	+0.0%
1844	0.162	+0.0%
1845	0.162	+0.0%
1846	0.162	+0.0%
1847	0.162	+0.0%
1848	0.162	+0.0%
1849	0.123	-24.1%
1850	0.123	+0.0%
1851	0.123	+0.0%
1852	0.123	+0.0%
1853	0.123	+0.0%
1854	0.123	+0.0%
1855	0.123	+0.0%
1856	0.123	+0.0%
1857	0.123	+0.0%
1858	0.123	+0.0%
1859	0.123	+0.0%
1860	0.123	+0.0%
1861	0.123	+0.0%
1862	0.123	+0.0%
1863	0.123	+0.0%
1864	0.234	+90.2%
1865	0.234	+0.0%
1866	0.234	+0.0%
1867	0.234	+0.0%
1868	0.234	+0.0%
1869	0.234	+0.0%
1870	0.234	+0.0%
1871	0.234	+0.0%
1872	0.234	+0.0%
1873	0.234	+0.0%
1874	0.176	-24.8%
1875	0.176	+0.0%
1876	0.176	+0.0%
1877	0.176	+0.0%
1878	0.176	+0.0%
1879	0.176	+0.0%
1880	0.134	-23.9%
1881	0.134	+0.0%
1882	0.134	+0.0%
1883	0.134	+0.0%
1884	0.134	+0.0%
1885	0.134	+0.0%
1886	0.134	+0.0%
1887	0.134	+0.0%
1888	0.134	+0.0%
1889	0.134	+0.0%
1890	0.134	+0.0%
1891	0.134	+0.0%
1892	0.134	+0.0%
1893	0.134	+0.0%
1894	0.124	-7.5%
1895	0.127	+2.4%
1896	0.127	+0.0%
1897	0.202	+59.1%
1898	0.202	+0.0%
1899	0.202	+0.0%
1900	0.196	-3.0%
1901	0.196	+0.0%
1902	0.196	+0.0%
1903	0.196	+0.0%
1904	0.191	-2.6%
1905	0.191	+0.0%
1906	0.191	+0.0%
1907	0.191	+0.0%
1908	0.191	+0.0%
1909	0.191	+0.0%
1910	0.156	-18.3%
1911	0.16	+2.6%
1912	0.16	+0.0%
1913	0.16	+0.0%
1914	0.16	+0.0%
1915	0.16	+0.0%
1916	0.16	+0.0%
1917	0.16	+0.0%
1918	0.16	+0.0%
1919	0.16	+0.0%
1920	0.157	-1.9%
1921	0.157	+0.0%
1922	0.157	+0.0%
1923	0.157	+0.0%
1924	0.157	+0.0%
1925	0.157	+0.0%
1926	0.157	+0.0%
1927	0.157	+0.0%
1928	0.157	+0.0%
1929	0.157	+0.0%
1930	0.157	+0.0%
1931	0.157	+0.0%
1932	0.157	+0.0%
1933	0.157	+0.0%
1934	0.157	+0.0%
1935	0.157	+0.0%
1936	0.157	+0.0%
1937	0.157	+0.0%
1938	0.157	+0.0%
1939	0.157	+0.0%
1940	0.157	+0.0%
1941	0.148	-5.7%
1942	0.148	+0.0%
1943	0.148	+0.0%
1944	0.148	+0.0%
1945	0.169	+14.2%
1946	0.275	+62.7%
1947	0.275	+0.0%
1948	0.38	+38.2%
1949	0.4	+5.3%
1950	0.407	+1.7%
1951	0.387	-4.9%
1952	0.387	+0.0%
1953	0.394	+1.8%
1954	0.409	+3.8%
1955	0.41	+0.2%
1956	0.41	+0.0%
1957	0.41	+0.0%
1958	0.409	-0.2%
1959	0.409	+0.0%
1960	0.569	+39.1%
1961	0.434	-23.7%
1962	0.393	-9.4%
1963	0.401	+2.0%
1964	0.418	+4.2%
1965	0.418	+0.0%
1966	0.418	+0.0%
1967	0.418	+0.0%
1968	0.418	+0.0%
1969	0.418	+0.0%
1970	0.418	+0.0%
1971	0.418	+0.0%
1972	0.365	-12.7%
1973	0.34	-6.8%
1974	0.34	+0.0%
1975	0.34	+0.0%
1976	0.34	+0.0%
1977	0.34	+0.0%
1978	0.34	+0.0%
1979	0.34	+0.0%
1980	0.371	+9.1%
1981	0.358	-3.5%
1982	0.376	+5.0%
1983	0.382	+1.6%
1984	0.382	+0.0%
1985	0.386	+1.0%
1986	0.386	+0.0%
1987	0.594	+53.9%
1988	0.799	+34.5%
1989	0.804	+0.6%
1990	0.806	+0.2%
1991	0.806	+0.0%
1992	0.819	+1.6%
1993	0.894	+9.2%
1994	0.894	+0.0%
1995	0.894	+0.0%
1996	0.894	+0.0%
1997	0.901	+0.8%
1998	0.919	+2.0%
1999	0.919	+0.0%
2000	0.929	+1.1%
2001	0.929	+0.0%
2002	0.936	+0.8%
2003	0.946	+1.1%
2004	0.949	+0.3%
2005	0.949	+0.0%
2006	0.949	+0.0%
2007	0.948	-0.1%
2008	0.908	-4.2%
2009	0.908	+0.0%
2010	0.904	-0.4%
2011	0.904	+0.0%
2012	0.894	-1.1%
2013	0.86	-3.8%
2014	0.86	+0.0%
2015	0.834	-3.0%
2016	0.834	+0.0%
2017	0.951	+14.0%
2018	0.951	+0.0%
2019	0.95	-0.1%
2020	0.952	+0.2%
2021	0.937	-1.6%
2022	0.937	+0.0%
2023	0.893	-4.7%
2024	0.877	-1.8%
2025	0.917	+4.6%

South Korea compared with similar countries

South Korea's 0.917 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.927, 99% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
South Korea's 0.917 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.59, 1.6× the median. (22 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.25	0.25	0.25	1
1790s	0.25	0.25	0.25	10
1800s	0.179	0.179	0.179	10
1810s	0.179	0.179	0.179	10
1820s	0.179	0.179	0.179	10
1830s	0.179	0.179	0.179	10
1840s	0.1581	0.123	0.162	10
1850s	0.123	0.123	0.123	10
1860s	0.1896	0.123	0.234	10
1870s	0.1992	0.176	0.234	10
1880s	0.134	0.134	0.134	10
1890s	0.152	0.124	0.202	10
1900s	0.193	0.191	0.196	10
1910s	0.1596	0.156	0.16	10
1920s	0.157	0.157	0.157	10
1930s	0.157	0.157	0.157	10
1940s	0.2248	0.148	0.4	10
1950s	0.4032	0.387	0.41	10
1960s	0.4305	0.393	0.569	10
1970s	0.3581	0.34	0.418	10
1980s	0.4838	0.358	0.804	10
1990s	0.8746	0.806	0.919	10
2000s	0.9351	0.908	0.949	10
2010s	0.8942	0.834	0.951	10
2020s	0.9188	0.877	0.952	6

Countries ranked near South Korea

28 Barbados 0.927 compare
29 United States 0.924 compare
30 Lithuania 0.92 compare
31 Taiwan 0.917 compare
33 Slovenia 0.9 compare
34 Israel 0.889 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for South Korea

Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.9638 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.9281 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 3.55 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.2074 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 3.55 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 3.23 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 4.37 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.17 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 19.85 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.13 (2050)

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law index in South Korea?: Rule of law index in South Korea was 0.917 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest rule of law index recorded in South Korea?: The highest recorded value was 0.952 in 2020.
What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in South Korea?: The lowest recorded value was 0.123 in 1849.
How does South Korea rank for rule of law index?: South Korea ranks 31st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is rule of law index rising or falling in South Korea?: Over the last ten years it is up 10.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this South Korea 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 — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Rule of Law Index in South Korea. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-index/korea-rep/

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 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-index/korea-rep/">Rule of Law Index in South Korea</a> — Statizoid

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: 18 September 2026

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.