What is rule of law index in Sri Lanka?

Rule of law index in Sri Lanka was 0.829 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Sri Lanka?

The highest recorded value was 0.893 in 1920.

What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Sri Lanka?

The lowest recorded value was 0.397 in 2010.

How does Sri Lanka rank for rule of law index?

Sri Lanka ranks 44th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is rule of law index rising or falling in Sri Lanka?

Over the last ten years it is up 25.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.

Where does this Sri Lanka 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 Sri Lanka

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

Sri Lanka: Rule of Law Index was 0.829 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)

0.829

Change on year

up 17.1%

World rank

44th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.893

in 1920

All-time low

0.397

in 2010

Years of data

126

1900–2025

Rule of Law Index in Sri Lanka, 1900–2025

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

Analysis

In 2025, rule of law index in Sri Lanka stood at 0.829.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 17.1% on the previous year and up 25.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law index in Sri Lanka peaked at 0.893 in 1920 and was at its lowest, 0.397, in 2010.

Sri Lanka ranks 44th of 176 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

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

Rule of Law Index in Sri Lanka, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law Index in Sri Lanka, 1900 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1900	0.884	—
1901	0.884	+0.0%
1902	0.884	+0.0%
1903	0.884	+0.0%
1904	0.884	+0.0%
1905	0.884	+0.0%
1906	0.884	+0.0%
1907	0.884	+0.0%
1908	0.884	+0.0%
1909	0.884	+0.0%
1910	0.884	+0.0%
1911	0.884	+0.0%
1912	0.884	+0.0%
1913	0.884	+0.0%
1914	0.884	+0.0%
1915	0.884	+0.0%
1916	0.884	+0.0%
1917	0.884	+0.0%
1918	0.884	+0.0%
1919	0.884	+0.0%
1920	0.893	+1.0%
1921	0.893	+0.0%
1922	0.893	+0.0%
1923	0.893	+0.0%
1924	0.893	+0.0%
1925	0.893	+0.0%
1926	0.893	+0.0%
1927	0.893	+0.0%
1928	0.893	+0.0%
1929	0.893	+0.0%
1930	0.893	+0.0%
1931	0.886	-0.8%
1932	0.886	+0.0%
1933	0.886	+0.0%
1934	0.886	+0.0%
1935	0.886	+0.0%
1936	0.886	+0.0%
1937	0.886	+0.0%
1938	0.886	+0.0%
1939	0.886	+0.0%
1940	0.886	+0.0%
1941	0.886	+0.0%
1942	0.886	+0.0%
1943	0.886	+0.0%
1944	0.886	+0.0%
1945	0.886	+0.0%
1946	0.886	+0.0%
1947	0.865	-2.4%
1948	0.814	-5.9%
1949	0.821	+0.9%
1950	0.821	+0.0%
1951	0.821	+0.0%
1952	0.821	+0.0%
1953	0.821	+0.0%
1954	0.821	+0.0%
1955	0.821	+0.0%
1956	0.792	-3.5%
1957	0.798	+0.8%
1958	0.798	+0.0%
1959	0.798	+0.0%
1960	0.798	+0.0%
1961	0.798	+0.0%
1962	0.798	+0.0%
1963	0.798	+0.0%
1964	0.798	+0.0%
1965	0.798	+0.0%
1966	0.798	+0.0%
1967	0.798	+0.0%
1968	0.798	+0.0%
1969	0.798	+0.0%
1970	0.777	-2.6%
1971	0.768	-1.2%
1972	0.762	-0.8%
1973	0.751	-1.4%
1974	0.753	+0.3%
1975	0.762	+1.2%
1976	0.762	+0.0%
1977	0.748	-1.8%
1978	0.678	-9.4%
1979	0.678	+0.0%
1980	0.67	-1.2%
1981	0.67	+0.0%
1982	0.67	+0.0%
1983	0.653	-2.5%
1984	0.653	+0.0%
1985	0.653	+0.0%
1986	0.642	-1.7%
1987	0.633	-1.4%
1988	0.62	-2.1%
1989	0.563	-9.2%
1990	0.579	+2.8%
1991	0.588	+1.6%
1992	0.588	+0.0%
1993	0.588	+0.0%
1994	0.584	-0.7%
1995	0.597	+2.2%
1996	0.597	+0.0%
1997	0.597	+0.0%
1998	0.597	+0.0%
1999	0.597	+0.0%
2000	0.597	+0.0%
2001	0.611	+2.3%
2002	0.611	+0.0%
2003	0.611	+0.0%
2004	0.594	-2.8%
2005	0.513	-13.6%
2006	0.499	-2.7%
2007	0.499	+0.0%
2008	0.495	-0.8%
2009	0.484	-2.2%
2010	0.397	-18.0%
2011	0.397	+0.0%
2012	0.419	+5.5%
2013	0.426	+1.7%
2014	0.428	+0.5%
2015	0.66	+54.2%
2016	0.71	+7.6%
2017	0.695	-2.1%
2018	0.691	-0.6%
2019	0.655	-5.2%
2020	0.46	-29.8%
2021	0.489	+6.3%
2022	0.608	+24.3%
2023	0.619	+1.8%
2024	0.708	+14.4%
2025	0.829	+17.1%

Sri Lanka compared with similar countries

Sri Lanka's 0.829 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.4345, 1.9× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Sri Lanka's 0.829 is above the median for South Asia, which is 0.7125, 1.2× the median. (6 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1900s	0.884	0.884	0.884	10
1910s	0.884	0.884	0.884	10
1920s	0.893	0.893	0.893	10
1930s	0.8867	0.886	0.893	10
1940s	0.8702	0.814	0.886	10
1950s	0.8112	0.792	0.821	10
1960s	0.798	0.798	0.798	10
1970s	0.7439	0.678	0.777	10
1980s	0.6427	0.563	0.67	10
1990s	0.5912	0.579	0.597	10
2000s	0.5514	0.484	0.611	10
2010s	0.5478	0.397	0.71	10
2020s	0.6188	0.46	0.829	6

Countries ranked near Sri Lanka

41 Brazil 0.862 compare
42 Jamaica 0.847 compare
43 Malta 0.83 compare
45 Botswana 0.822 compare
45 Vanuatu 0.822 compare
47 Namibia 0.817 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Sri Lanka

Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1608 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.316 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.33 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.1784 (2050)
Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 2.33 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.539 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1604 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.63 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.15 (2050)
Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.9713 (2050)

All data for Sri Lanka →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law index in Sri Lanka?: Rule of law index in Sri Lanka was 0.829 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Sri Lanka?: The highest recorded value was 0.893 in 1920.
What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Sri Lanka?: The lowest recorded value was 0.397 in 2010.
How does Sri Lanka rank for rule of law index?: Sri Lanka ranks 44th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is rule of law index rising or falling in Sri Lanka?: Over the last ten years it is up 25.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sri Lanka 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Rule of Law Index in Sri Lanka. 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/sri-lanka/

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/sri-lanka/">Rule of Law Index in Sri Lanka</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.