2025 global snapshot

Democracy Index 2025

Countries and territories ranked by their Democracys Score—a transparent beta composite of five V-Dem v16 dimensions.

Largest 10-year rises

The Gambia+38.1 Thailand+23.2 Syria+17.8

Largest 10-year falls

Afghanistan−35.8 Burma/Myanmar−34.0 El Salvador−31.7

What the score includes

ElectionsRights & checksParticipationReasoningEquality

See the full calculation →

ALL SCORED PLACES

2025 ranking

Observation year: 2025 · Dataset: V-Dem v16 · Method: Democracys 1.0 beta · Recalculated: September 3, 2026

179 places

2025 rank	Country or territory	Score	Likely score area	10-year change	Weakest area
1	Switzerland	93.1	91.4–95.6	−0.1	Elections
2	Denmark	90.4	88.9–92.8	−0.5	Participation
3	Norway	88.6	87.0–90.9	−0.7	Participation
4	Germany	87.1	85.2–89.6	−1.4	Participation
5	Sweden	86.5	84.2–90.1	−1.9	Participation
6	Australia	86.0	83.0–90.2	+1.3	Participation
7	Uruguay	85.9	81.9–91.1	−3.1	Equality
8	Costa Rica	84.8	81.7–89.1	−2.8	Participation
9	Taiwan	84.5	80.6–89.8	+3.2	Participation
10	Estonia	84.1	80.4–88.6	−1.2	Participation
11	Ireland	84.1	80.6–88.7	0.0	Participation
12	Belgium	84.0	80.9–88.4	−2.0	Participation
13	Luxembourg	83.9	80.1–88.7	−3.1	Participation
14	France	83.0	79.5–87.7	−2.8	Participation
15	Finland	82.9	79.6–87.6	−3.7	Participation
16	Netherlands	82.8	79.2–87.7	−3.0	Participation
17	Iceland	82.6	79.0–87.9	−0.5	Participation
18	South Korea	82.5	79.2–87.9	+7.5	Participation
19	Japan	82.0	78.1–86.9	+0.3	Participation
20	Austria	81.9	78.4–87.2	−4.1	Participation
21	Czechia	81.7	77.7–87.3	−0.1	Participation
22	Lithuania	81.7	77.3–87.1	−4.1	Participation
23	Latvia	81.4	77.0–86.8	−3.0	Participation
24	Italy	81.0	76.7–86.9	−6.6	Participation
25	Chile	80.8	76.6–86.0	+0.3	Participation
26	Spain	80.4	76.2–86.1	−2.1	Participation
27	Slovenia	80.2	76.4–85.8	−6.9	Elections
28	New Zealand	79.1	73.9–86.1	−6.7	Participation
29	Poland	78.9	74.2–85.1	−1.7	Participation
30	United Kingdom	78.9	74.3–84.4	−3.9	Participation
31	Jamaica	77.7	73.0–84.4	+0.8	Participation
32	Mauritius	77.4	72.9–83.4	+2.1	Participation
33	Malta	77.3	71.9–83.7	−0.1	Participation
34	Cyprus	76.9	71.4–83.4	−3.7	Participation
35	Brazil	76.8	72.7–82.6	−2.5	Participation
36	Canada	76.5	71.2–82.5	−3.5	Participation
37	Portugal	75.6	70.5–82.5	−10.2	Participation
38	Greece	75.4	70.5–82.2	−8.4	Participation
39	Trinidad and Tobago	75.2	69.7–81.9	−1.3	Participation
40	South Africa	73.8	68.4–80.4	+0.3	Participation
41	Seychelles	73.1	69.0–78.7	+13.3	Participation
42	Suriname	73.1	67.5–80.3	+0.5	Participation
43	Sri Lanka	72.7	66.4–79.8	+10.0	Participation
44	Croatia	72.6	66.6–80.1	−5.4	Participation
45	Israel	72.3	66.9–79.7	−3.7	Participation
46	Bhutan	71.6	65.9–77.8	+0.1	Participation
47	Barbados	71.5	67.6–76.6	+1.6	Participation
48	Montenegro	71.1	65.0–78.5	+4.0	Participation
49	Moldova	70.8	64.4–78.4	+3.6	Elections
50	Bulgaria	70.4	63.9–78.0	−4.1	Elections
51	Cape Verde	70.4	63.4–77.8	−4.8	Participation
52	Senegal	70.4	64.4–77.3	−1.7	Participation
53	The Gambia	68.4	62.1–75.9	+38.1	Participation
54	Lesotho	67.6	60.8–75.7	+0.6	Participation
55	Ghana	67.4	61.5–74.7	−1.0	Participation
56	Panama	66.4	59.3–74.7	−2.1	Participation
57	United States	66.1	58.9–73.1	−18.4	Equality
58	Timor-Leste	65.6	58.7–73.7	+5.3	Participation
59	Malawi	65.4	59.3–72.1	+1.4	Equality
60	Colombia	65.3	58.5–73.6	−3.9	Equality
61	Dominican Republic	65.3	59.4–72.4	+8.9	Equality
62	Sao Tome and Principe	65.2	58.5–73.6	−2.3	Participation
63	Sierra Leone	64.7	58.8–71.7	+7.8	Elections
64	Slovakia	64.1	55.8–71.9	−14.3	Reasoning
65	Argentina	63.6	56.0–71.5	−7.9	Reasoning
66	Mongolia	63.6	57.0–71.3	−6.4	Participation
67	Guatemala	63.5	56.6–71.6	+10.9	Equality
68	Kenya	63.5	57.1–71.3	−2.1	Participation
69	Vanuatu	62.9	56.1–71.5	−10.6	Participation
70	Nepal	62.6	55.4–71.4	−1.2	Reasoning
71	Fiji	62.0	55.4–69.6	+10.4	Participation
72	Liberia	61.5	55.3–69.2	−2.8	Participation
73	Maldives	61.4	53.5–69.6	+16.7	Participation
74	Zambia	61.2	55.0–69.0	+4.5	Equality
75	Namibia	60.7	52.7–69.2	−8.7	Equality
76	Solomon Islands	60.7	53.2–69.2	+2.5	Reasoning
77	Malaysia	60.6	53.4–68.3	+10.6	Elections
78	Tanzania	60.3	53.7–67.9	−5.3	Elections
79	Romania	60.2	52.5–69.3	−13.0	Reasoning
80	Kosovo	60.1	52.5–68.5	+0.9	Participation
81	Peru	59.7	51.9–68.4	−11.8	Reasoning
82	Botswana	59.6	51.0–68.3	−10.8	Reasoning
83	North Macedonia	59.0	50.9–66.6	+6.0	Elections
84	Tunisia	58.3	51.3–65.5	−16.5	Elections
85	Bosnia and Herzegovina	57.7	50.4–65.8	+0.1	Elections
86	Armenia	57.3	48.8–65.8	+9.7	Participation
87	Georgia	57.0	49.2–64.0	−13.6	Elections
88	Ukraine	56.8	50.0–64.6	−0.3	Elections
89	Benin	56.5	48.4–64.0	−16.5	Participation
90	Nigeria	56.1	49.0–64.2	−4.6	Elections
91	Honduras	55.6	47.7–64.0	+10.3	Equality
92	Indonesia	55.2	47.8–63.1	−15.3	Equality
93	Albania	55.0	46.8–62.8	−4.7	Reasoning
94	Ecuador	54.6	46.3–63.7	−0.3	Equality
95	Singapore	53.2	45.0–60.4	+0.9	Participation
96	Morocco	52.7	46.6–59.9	+2.0	Elections
97	Lebanon	52.3	44.6–60.2	−2.6	Elections
98	Niger	52.1	46.7–58.6	−19.7	Elections
99	Guyana	51.7	43.4–60.0	−8.6	Reasoning
100	Serbia	51.6	44.4–59.0	−9.3	Elections
101	Papua New Guinea	51.5	43.9–59.4	−0.1	Reasoning
102	Bolivia	51.4	43.8–59.4	−12.7	Reasoning
103	Jordan	50.8	43.7–57.9	+5.8	Elections
104	Gabon	50.4	43.8–57.9	−6.3	Elections
105	Hungary	49.9	41.7–57.2	−14.2	Reasoning
106	Zanzibar	49.9	42.1–57.8	−4.4	Elections
107	India	49.1	41.5–56.6	−11.5	Elections
108	Somaliland	48.5	40.3–56.6	+4.0	Equality
109	Togo	48.3	41.0–55.7	−2.6	Rights & checks
110	Ivory Coast	48.2	39.6–56.2	−10.8	Elections
111	Philippines	48.0	40.0–56.2	−15.5	Equality
112	Paraguay	47.9	38.8–55.9	−2.4	Equality
113	Mexico	47.1	39.1–54.8	−12.4	Rights & checks
114	Iraq	46.8	38.9–54.7	−1.1	Elections
115	Mali	46.6	40.8–53.2	−13.7	Elections
116	Thailand	44.3	35.5–52.0	+23.2	Participation
117	Mozambique	43.2	35.8–49.9	−10.9	Elections
118	Vietnam	41.7	35.0–48.5	−3.1	Elections
119	Zimbabwe	41.5	34.7–48.6	−7.7	Elections
120	Uganda	41.3	34.0–48.6	−9.8	Elections
121	Kyrgyzstan	39.9	31.8–47.3	−19.7	Elections
122	Madagascar	38.3	29.8–45.6	−8.4	Equality
123	Comoros	38.1	29.9–45.1	−15.2	Reasoning
124	Mauritania	38.1	30.4–45.9	+2.4	Rights & checks
125	Democratic Republic of the Congo	37.6	29.1–45.2	+2.2	Rights & checks
126	Pakistan	37.4	29.8–45.2	−6.0	Equality
127	Kazakhstan	36.9	29.3–43.9	+8.7	Participation
128	Rwanda	36.8	28.9–43.9	−10.8	Elections
129	Djibouti	36.0	28.8–43.0	+3.0	Elections
130	Libya	35.7	29.6–42.3	−9.9	Elections
131	Algeria	35.1	27.6–41.9	−7.0	Participation
132	Kuwait	35.0	28.2–41.6	−15.4	Elections
133	Republic of the Congo	34.6	26.5–41.0	+4.8	Elections
134	Somalia	34.4	27.5–41.4	+6.2	Elections
135	Ethiopia	34.2	26.6–40.9	+3.8	Rights & checks
136	Oman	33.6	26.4–39.3	−0.3	Elections
137	Palestine/West Bank	32.5	23.7–39.2	−11.5	Reasoning
138	Bangladesh	32.0	25.4–39.0	+4.3	Elections
139	Guinea-Bissau	31.2	24.3–37.2	−14.3	Rights & checks
140	Guinea	30.3	22.0–36.5	−8.8	Elections
141	Türkiye	30.2	22.8–36.1	−16.2	Reasoning
142	Hong Kong	29.6	22.3–34.9	−23.1	Participation
143	Haiti	29.1	22.4–35.1	−11.7	Equality
144	Uzbekistan	28.8	22.1–34.8	+14.0	Rights & checks
145	Angola	28.4	20.9–35.3	+7.2	Participation
146	Burkina Faso	28.1	20.1–33.9	−31.0	Elections
147	Laos	27.9	20.4–33.3	+4.1	Elections
148	Cameroon	27.8	20.9–34.3	−8.3	Participation
149	Egypt	27.5	20.2–33.1	+5.0	Elections
150	Syria	27.4	20.0–33.7	+17.8	Elections
151	Cuba	26.6	20.3–31.4	+0.7	Participation
152	Central African Republic	26.2	18.0–32.3	−12.4	Rights & checks
153	El Salvador	25.7	18.0–32.2	−31.7	Rights & checks
154	Iran	25.4	18.1–31.6	−8.0	Participation
155	Eswatini	24.7	17.3–30.3	−3.6	Elections
156	Russia	24.1	17.7–28.6	−12.1	Rights & checks
157	Qatar	23.6	18.3–28.6	+1.8	Elections
158	Burundi	23.4	16.2–28.4	−4.9	Rights & checks
159	Chad	23.2	15.9–28.4	−1.1	Rights & checks
160	United Arab Emirates	21.9	14.2–26.9	−1.5	Participation
161	Bahrain	21.0	14.7–25.9	+3.1	Elections
162	Palestine/Gaza	20.3	13.4–26.2	−6.1	Elections
163	Belarus	20.1	14.8–23.8	−11.6	Reasoning
164	Cambodia	17.9	11.6–22.7	−9.2	Rights & checks
165	Saudi Arabia	16.9	10.8–21.6	+1.9	Elections
166	Venezuela	16.2	10.9–19.7	−14.5	Reasoning
167	China	16.1	10.7–20.6	−7.2	Elections
168	Azerbaijan	15.6	10.7–19.2	−4.5	Reasoning
169	Equatorial Guinea	15.4	9.9–19.3	−2.1	Participation
170	Tajikistan	14.3	8.7–17.9	−0.1	Rights & checks
171	Yemen	13.2	7.9–16.9	−3.5	Equality
172	South Sudan	12.7	6.8–16.7	−2.7	Equality
173	Sudan	12.4	7.1–16.4	−3.8	Reasoning
174	Nicaragua	11.9	7.7–14.4	−21.1	Reasoning
175	Turkmenistan	11.7	6.9–14.4	+0.8	Reasoning
176	Burma/Myanmar	10.8	5.5–14.0	−34.0	Rights & checks
177	North Korea	10.3	6.2–12.9	+0.9	Reasoning
178	Eritrea	8.8	5.1–11.4	−1.5	Participation
179	Afghanistan	7.1	4.2–8.9	−35.8	Reasoning

What this ranking is—and is not

The Democracys Score measures how closely institutions and lived political conditions align with a published democratic standard. It does not measure the worth of a country, culture, or population; it is not a percentage of democracy; and it was not created or endorsed by V-Dem. Country pages expose the full series and component values.