Transparent laws in Iceland
Iceland: Transparent laws was 1 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Transparent laws in Iceland, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 1 for transparent laws in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, transparent laws in Iceland peaked at 1 in 1905 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1900.
Iceland ranks 1st of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Transparent laws in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0 | — |
| 1901 | 0 | — |
| 1902 | 0 | — |
| 1903 | 0 | — |
| 1904 | 0 | — |
| 1905 | 1 | — |
| 1906 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1931 | 0 | — |
| 1932 | 0 | — |
| 1933 | 0 | — |
| 1934 | 0 | — |
| 1935 | 0 | — |
| 1936 | 0 | — |
| 1937 | 0 | — |
| 1938 | 0 | — |
| 1939 | 0 | — |
| 1940 | 0 | — |
| 1941 | 0 | — |
| 1942 | 0 | — |
| 1943 | 0 | — |
| 1944 | 1 | — |
| 1945 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 1 | +0.0% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 1 is above the median for high income countries, which is 1, 1.0× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1920s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.6 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
- 1 Australia 1 compare
- 1 Austria 1 compare
- 1 Barbados 1 compare
- 1 Belgium 1 compare
- 1 Botswana 1 compare
- 1 Brazil 1 compare
- 1 Canada 1 compare
- 1 Chile 1 compare
- 1 Costa Rica 1 compare
- 1 Cyprus 1 compare
- 1 Czechia 1 compare
- 1 Denmark 1 compare
- 1 Estonia 1 compare
- 1 Finland 1 compare
- 1 France 1 compare
- 1 Gabon 1 compare
- 1 Germany 1 compare
- 1 Ghana 1 compare
- 1 Ireland 1 compare
- 1 Italy 1 compare
- 1 Jamaica 1 compare
- 1 Japan 1 compare
- 1 Latvia 1 compare
- 1 Lithuania 1 compare
- 1 Luxembourg 1 compare
- 1 Malawi 1 compare
- 1 Namibia 1 compare
- 1 Netherlands 1 compare
- 1 New Zealand 1 compare
- 1 Norway 1 compare
- 1 Senegal 1 compare
- 1 Seychelles 1 compare
- 1 Singapore 1 compare
- 1 South Africa 1 compare
- 1 South Korea 1 compare
- 1 Spain 1 compare
- 1 Sweden 1 compare
- 1 Switzerland 1 compare
- 1 Taiwan 1 compare
- 1 Trinidad and Tobago 1 compare
- 1 United Arab Emirates 1 compare
- 1 Uruguay 1 compare
More reference data data for Iceland
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0288 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0708 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0001 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0964 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.062 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2576 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.7664 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0005 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is transparent laws in Iceland?
- Transparent laws in Iceland was 1 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest transparent laws recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1905.
- What is the lowest transparent laws recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1900.
- How does Iceland rank for transparent laws?
- Iceland ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is transparent laws rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. 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 Transparent laws. 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
Central estimate of whether laws are transparent, coherent, and relatively stable, and their enforcement predictable.