Voice and Accountability - Governance score (0-100) in South Africa

South Africa: Voice and Accountability - Governance score (0-100) was 70.22 0-100 in 2025. ▬ Flat

Latest (2025)
70.22 0-100
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
59th
of 208 countries
All-time high
71.3 0-100
in 2006
All-time low
68.19 0-100
in 2019
Years of data
27
1996–2025

Voice and Accountability - Governance score in South Africa, 1996–2025

0204060801996201020251996: 69.7 0-1001998: 68.8 0-1002000: 69.4 0-1002002: 68.2 0-1002003: 69.5 0-1002004: 70.4 0-1002005: 70.6 0-1002006: 71.3 0-1002007: 70.3 0-1002008: 69.5 0-1002009: 69.9 0-1002010: 70.1 0-1002011: 69.1 0-1002012: 69.3 0-1002013: 69.1 0-1002014: 69.6 0-1002015: 69.7 0-1002016: 69.1 0-1002017: 68.8 0-1002018: 68.7 0-1002019: 68.2 0-1002020: 68.6 0-1002021: 70 0-1002022: 68.9 0-1002023: 68.9 0-1002024: 70 0-1002025: 70.2 0-100

Source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Measured in 0-100.

Analysis

South Africa recorded 70.22 0-100 for voice and accountability - governance score in 2025.

The figure is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 0.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, voice and accountability - governance score in South Africa peaked at 71.3 0-100 in 2006 and was at its lowest, 68.19 0-100, in 2019.

South Africa ranks 59th of 208 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Voice and Accountability - Governance score (0-100) in South Africa, year by year

Annual values for Voice and Accountability - Governance score (0-100) in South Africa, 1996 to 2025.
Year 0-100 Change
1996 69.72 0-100 —
1998 68.77 0-100 -1.4%
2000 69.43 0-100 +1.0%
2002 68.23 0-100 -1.7%
2003 69.52 0-100 +1.9%
2004 70.45 0-100 +1.3%
2005 70.61 0-100 +0.2%
2006 71.3 0-100 +1.0%
2007 70.32 0-100 -1.4%
2008 69.54 0-100 -1.1%
2009 69.88 0-100 +0.5%
2010 70.09 0-100 +0.3%
2011 69.06 0-100 -1.5%
2012 69.33 0-100 +0.4%
2013 69.09 0-100 -0.3%
2014 69.56 0-100 +0.7%
2015 69.69 0-100 +0.2%
2016 69.12 0-100 -0.8%
2017 68.85 0-100 -0.4%
2018 68.72 0-100 -0.2%
2019 68.19 0-100 -0.8%
2020 68.59 0-100 +0.6%
2021 70.04 0-100 +2.1%
2022 68.89 0-100 -1.6%
2023 68.85 0-100 -0.1%
2024 69.97 0-100 +1.6%
2025 70.22 0-100 +0.4%

South Africa compared with similar countries

  • South Africa's 70.22 0-100 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 56.73 0-100, 1.2× the median. (59 countries reporting)
  • South Africa's 70.22 0-100 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 41.18 0-100, 1.7× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 69.25 0-100 68.77 0-100 69.72 0-100 2
2000s 69.92 0-100 68.23 0-100 71.3 0-100 9
2010s 69.17 0-100 68.19 0-100 70.09 0-100 10
2020s 69.43 0-100 68.59 0-100 70.22 0-100 6

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 56 Andorra 72.29 0-100 compare
  2. 57 Croatia 71.27 0-100 compare
  3. 58 Saint Lucia 71.22 0-100 compare
  4. 60 Seychelles 70.16 0-100 compare
  5. 61 United States 69.55 0-100 compare
  6. 62 Bahamas 69.32 0-100 compare

See the full ranking of 208 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is voice and accountability - governance score in South Africa?
Voice and accountability - governance score in South Africa was 70.22 0-100 in 2025, according to The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG).
What is the highest voice and accountability - governance score recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 71.3 0-100 in 2006.
What is the lowest voice and accountability - governance score recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 68.19 0-100 in 2019.
How does South Africa rank for voice and accountability - governance score?
South Africa ranks 59th out of 208 countries with data for 2025.
Is voice and accountability - governance score rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), published as part of Voice and Accountability - Governance score (0-100). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Voice and Accountability - Governance score in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 13 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/voice-and-accountability-governance-score-0-100/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Voice and Accountability - Governance score (0-100)
Unit
0-100
Source
The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
208 places, 5,514 data points, 1996–2025
Last refreshed

Voice and Accountability (VA) captures perceptions of the extent to which citizens can participate in selecting their government including electoral integrity, and of accountability mechanisms for citizens—reflected in the ability to access information, governmental oversight bodies, and a robust traditional/digital media landscape. Governance score is a linear transformation of the governance estimate using hypothetical worst-case and base-case countries. It is an absolute score ranging from 0-100. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) confidence intervals (lower and upper bound). The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance score (respectively the underlying governance estimate) is based. The confidence intervals include the lower and upper bound of the 90% confidence interval for the governance score. Confidence intervals are a statistical range of values that likely contain the true value (of what is being estimated).