Statizoid

Rule of Law Index in Nigeria

Nigeria: Rule of Law Index was 0.289 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.289
Change on year
up 21.4%
World rank
127th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.299
in 2017
All-time low
0.143
in 1968
Years of data
112
1914–2025

Rule of Law Index in Nigeria, 1914–2025

00.10.20.3191419692025

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

Analysis

In 2025, rule of law index in Nigeria stood at 0.289.

That represents a change of up 21.4% on the previous year and up 3.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law index in Nigeria peaked at 0.299 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.143, in 1968.

That places Nigeria 127th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 112 years of available data.

Rule of Law Index in Nigeria, year by year

Year Value Change
1914 0.151 —
1915 0.151 +0.0%
1916 0.151 +0.0%
1917 0.151 +0.0%
1918 0.151 +0.0%
1919 0.151 +0.0%
1920 0.151 +0.0%
1921 0.151 +0.0%
1922 0.151 +0.0%
1923 0.151 +0.0%
1924 0.151 +0.0%
1925 0.151 +0.0%
1926 0.151 +0.0%
1927 0.151 +0.0%
1928 0.151 +0.0%
1929 0.151 +0.0%
1930 0.151 +0.0%
1931 0.151 +0.0%
1932 0.151 +0.0%
1933 0.151 +0.0%
1934 0.151 +0.0%
1935 0.151 +0.0%
1936 0.151 +0.0%
1937 0.151 +0.0%
1938 0.151 +0.0%
1939 0.151 +0.0%
1940 0.151 +0.0%
1941 0.151 +0.0%
1942 0.151 +0.0%
1943 0.151 +0.0%
1944 0.151 +0.0%
1945 0.156 +3.3%
1946 0.156 +0.0%
1947 0.156 +0.0%
1948 0.156 +0.0%
1949 0.156 +0.0%
1950 0.156 +0.0%
1951 0.156 +0.0%
1952 0.156 +0.0%
1953 0.156 +0.0%
1954 0.156 +0.0%
1955 0.167 +7.1%
1956 0.167 +0.0%
1957 0.167 +0.0%
1958 0.167 +0.0%
1959 0.197 +18.0%
1960 0.227 +15.2%
1961 0.227 +0.0%
1962 0.227 +0.0%
1963 0.227 +0.0%
1964 0.218 -4.0%
1965 0.218 +0.0%
1966 0.21 -3.7%
1967 0.147 -30.0%
1968 0.143 -2.7%
1969 0.143 +0.0%
1970 0.143 +0.0%
1971 0.158 +10.5%
1972 0.168 +6.3%
1973 0.168 +0.0%
1974 0.168 +0.0%
1975 0.167 -0.6%
1976 0.178 +6.6%
1977 0.178 +0.0%
1978 0.183 +2.8%
1979 0.181 -1.1%
1980 0.186 +2.8%
1981 0.186 +0.0%
1982 0.186 +0.0%
1983 0.186 +0.0%
1984 0.178 -4.3%
1985 0.178 +0.0%
1986 0.156 -12.4%
1987 0.156 +0.0%
1988 0.156 +0.0%
1989 0.156 +0.0%
1990 0.156 +0.0%
1991 0.156 +0.0%
1992 0.156 +0.0%
1993 0.156 +0.0%
1994 0.153 -1.9%
1995 0.157 +2.6%
1996 0.157 +0.0%
1997 0.157 +0.0%
1998 0.171 +8.9%
1999 0.229 +33.9%
2000 0.229 +0.0%
2001 0.229 +0.0%
2002 0.229 +0.0%
2003 0.229 +0.0%
2004 0.229 +0.0%
2005 0.229 +0.0%
2006 0.229 +0.0%
2007 0.241 +5.2%
2008 0.248 +2.9%
2009 0.248 +0.0%
2010 0.231 -6.9%
2011 0.231 +0.0%
2012 0.231 +0.0%
2013 0.254 +10.0%
2014 0.259 +2.0%
2015 0.28 +8.1%
2016 0.29 +3.6%
2017 0.299 +3.1%
2018 0.268 -10.4%
2019 0.268 +0.0%
2020 0.255 -4.9%
2021 0.224 -12.2%
2022 0.239 +6.7%
2023 0.25 +4.6%
2024 0.238 -4.8%
2025 0.289 +21.4%

Nigeria compared with similar countries

  • Nigeria's 0.289 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.3495, 83% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
  • Nigeria's 0.289 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3685, 78% of the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1910s 0.151 0.151 0.151 6
1920s 0.151 0.151 0.151 10
1930s 0.151 0.151 0.151 10
1940s 0.1535 0.151 0.156 10
1950s 0.1645 0.156 0.197 10
1960s 0.1987 0.143 0.227 10
1970s 0.1692 0.143 0.183 10
1980s 0.1724 0.156 0.186 10
1990s 0.1648 0.153 0.229 10
2000s 0.234 0.229 0.248 10
2010s 0.2611 0.231 0.299 10
2020s 0.2492 0.224 0.289 6

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 124 Bangladesh 0.311 compare
  2. 125 Djibouti 0.295 compare
  3. 126 Mozambique 0.29 compare
  4. 127 Lebanon 0.289 compare
  5. 129 Syria 0.282 compare
  6. 130 Bolivia 0.281 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law index in Nigeria?
Rule of law index in Nigeria was 0.289 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 0.299 in 2017.
What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 0.143 in 1968.
How does Nigeria rank for rule of law index?
Nigeria ranks 127th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is rule of law index rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is up 3.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Nigeria 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 — 112 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Relationships involving this indicator

Comparisons with other indicators across countries. Each was re-measured with population and national income held constant, so a relationship that only reflected country size is not listed here.

All correlations →

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Rule of Law Index in Nigeria. 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/nigeria/

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/nigeria/">Rule of Law Index in Nigeria</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

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.