What is rule of law index in Panama?

Rule of law index in Panama was 0.692 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Panama?

The highest recorded value was 0.692 in 2025.

What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Panama?

The lowest recorded value was 0.136 in 1982.

How does Panama rank for rule of law index?

Panama ranks 72nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is rule of law index rising or falling in Panama?

Over the last ten years it is up 15.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Panama 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 Panama

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

Panama: Rule of Law Index was 0.692 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.692

Change on year

up 3.4%

World rank

72nd

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.692

in 2025

All-time low

0.136

in 1982

Years of data

123

1903–2025

Rule of Law Index in Panama, 1903–2025

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for rule of law index in Panama is 0.692, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 123 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.4% on the previous year and up 15.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law index in Panama peaked at 0.692 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.136, in 1982.

Panama ranks 72nd of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 123 years of available data.

Rule of Law Index in Panama, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law Index in Panama, 1903 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1903	0.341	—
1904	0.333	-2.3%
1905	0.333	+0.0%
1906	0.333	+0.0%
1907	0.333	+0.0%
1908	0.333	+0.0%
1909	0.333	+0.0%
1910	0.333	+0.0%
1911	0.333	+0.0%
1912	0.333	+0.0%
1913	0.333	+0.0%
1914	0.333	+0.0%
1915	0.333	+0.0%
1916	0.333	+0.0%
1917	0.346	+3.9%
1918	0.346	+0.0%
1919	0.37	+6.9%
1920	0.37	+0.0%
1921	0.37	+0.0%
1922	0.37	+0.0%
1923	0.37	+0.0%
1924	0.37	+0.0%
1925	0.372	+0.5%
1926	0.372	+0.0%
1927	0.372	+0.0%
1928	0.372	+0.0%
1929	0.372	+0.0%
1930	0.372	+0.0%
1931	0.338	-9.1%
1932	0.38	+12.4%
1933	0.38	+0.0%
1934	0.38	+0.0%
1935	0.38	+0.0%
1936	0.38	+0.0%
1937	0.38	+0.0%
1938	0.38	+0.0%
1939	0.38	+0.0%
1940	0.38	+0.0%
1941	0.346	-8.9%
1942	0.395	+14.2%
1943	0.395	+0.0%
1944	0.395	+0.0%
1945	0.395	+0.0%
1946	0.395	+0.0%
1947	0.389	-1.5%
1948	0.395	+1.5%
1949	0.382	-3.3%
1950	0.417	+9.2%
1951	0.396	-5.0%
1952	0.415	+4.8%
1953	0.415	+0.0%
1954	0.415	+0.0%
1955	0.415	+0.0%
1956	0.415	+0.0%
1957	0.415	+0.0%
1958	0.415	+0.0%
1959	0.415	+0.0%
1960	0.415	+0.0%
1961	0.415	+0.0%
1962	0.415	+0.0%
1963	0.415	+0.0%
1964	0.415	+0.0%
1965	0.415	+0.0%
1966	0.415	+0.0%
1967	0.415	+0.0%
1968	0.327	-21.2%
1969	0.272	-16.8%
1970	0.272	+0.0%
1971	0.272	+0.0%
1972	0.272	+0.0%
1973	0.272	+0.0%
1974	0.272	+0.0%
1975	0.272	+0.0%
1976	0.272	+0.0%
1977	0.272	+0.0%
1978	0.272	+0.0%
1979	0.272	+0.0%
1980	0.258	-5.1%
1981	0.214	-17.1%
1982	0.136	-36.4%
1983	0.162	+19.1%
1984	0.176	+8.6%
1985	0.176	+0.0%
1986	0.158	-10.2%
1987	0.158	+0.0%
1988	0.158	+0.0%
1989	0.158	+0.0%
1990	0.482	+205.1%
1991	0.573	+18.9%
1992	0.573	+0.0%
1993	0.573	+0.0%
1994	0.591	+3.1%
1995	0.591	+0.0%
1996	0.591	+0.0%
1997	0.591	+0.0%
1998	0.591	+0.0%
1999	0.591	+0.0%
2000	0.591	+0.0%
2001	0.591	+0.0%
2002	0.591	+0.0%
2003	0.591	+0.0%
2004	0.6	+1.5%
2005	0.591	-1.5%
2006	0.591	+0.0%
2007	0.591	+0.0%
2008	0.591	+0.0%
2009	0.591	+0.0%
2010	0.591	+0.0%
2011	0.591	+0.0%
2012	0.591	+0.0%
2013	0.601	+1.7%
2014	0.601	+0.0%
2015	0.601	+0.0%
2016	0.601	+0.0%
2017	0.616	+2.5%
2018	0.607	-1.5%
2019	0.607	+0.0%
2020	0.609	+0.3%
2021	0.629	+3.3%
2022	0.643	+2.2%
2023	0.635	-1.2%
2024	0.669	+5.4%
2025	0.692	+3.4%

Panama compared with similar countries

Panama's 0.692 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.927, 75% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
Panama's 0.692 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.577, 1.2× the median. (25 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1900s	0.3341	0.333	0.341	7
1910s	0.3393	0.333	0.37	10
1920s	0.371	0.37	0.372	10
1930s	0.375	0.338	0.38	10
1940s	0.3867	0.346	0.395	10
1950s	0.4133	0.396	0.417	10
1960s	0.3919	0.272	0.415	10
1970s	0.272	0.272	0.272	10
1980s	0.1754	0.136	0.258	10
1990s	0.5747	0.482	0.591	10
2000s	0.5919	0.591	0.6	10
2010s	0.6007	0.591	0.616	10
2020s	0.6462	0.609	0.692	6

Countries ranked near Panama

69 Guatemala 0.695 compare
70 Romania 0.694 compare
70 South Africa 0.694 compare
73 Kuwait 0.691 compare
73 Senegal 0.691 compare
75 Solomon Islands 0.669 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Panama

Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1446 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.6179 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.9793 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0285 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.9793 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.4849 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.2267 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.44 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 5.08 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1553 (2050)

All data for Panama →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law index in Panama?: Rule of law index in Panama was 0.692 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Panama?: The highest recorded value was 0.692 in 2025.
What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Panama?: The lowest recorded value was 0.136 in 1982.
How does Panama rank for rule of law index?: Panama ranks 72nd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is rule of law index rising or falling in Panama?: Over the last ten years it is up 15.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Panama 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 — 123 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 Panama. 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/panama/

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/panama/">Rule of Law Index in Panama</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.