Democracy Index 1958

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 1958 — 154 countries scored on a 0–100 scale, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Liberal Democracy Index rankings, 1958 — 154 countries scored 0–100 (V-Dem)
Rank	Country	Score (0–100)	1y change	10y change
1	🇩🇰 Denmark	87.3	+0.1	+0.8
2	🇩🇪 Germany	78.5	−0.1	—
3	🇦🇺 Australia	77.6	0.0	+3.3
4	🇫🇮 Finland	76.1	+0.5	+10.2
5	🇳🇴 Norway	74.9	+0.4	+4.4
6	🇯🇵 Japan	74.3	+0.7	+37.9
7	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	73.8	0.0	+4.5
8	🇳🇱 Netherlands	72.6	0.0	+2.6
9	🇸🇪 Sweden	72.1	−0.1	+1.4
10	🇳🇿 New Zealand	71.1	+0.4	+0.7
11	🇮🇸 Iceland	70.0	0.0	+1.2
12	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	69.3	0.0	+1.1
13	🇦🇹 Austria	68.5	0.0	+7.2
14	🇮🇪 Ireland	67.2	+0.2	+1.7
15	🇺🇾 Uruguay	66.9	0.0	+2.0
16	🇨🇦 Canada	66.6	+0.3	+5.3
17	🇧🇪 Belgium	64.8	−0.1	+16.7
18	🇫🇷 France	63.0	+0.2	+0.9
19	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	62.5	+0.1	+46.4
20	🇮🇹 Italy	59.3	+0.2	+8.7
21	🇨🇭 Switzerland	56.1	0.0	0.0
22	🇺🇸 United States of America	52.7	+0.6	+1.7
23	🇮🇳 India	51.4	+0.1	+36.1
24	🇮🇱 Israel	51.1	0.0	+21.7
25	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	48.6	−0.1	−4.0
26	🇸🇷 Suriname	42.5	0.0	+26.5
27	🇧🇧 Barbados	37.0	+1.3	+16.8
28	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	36.5	0.0	+10.3
29	🇯🇲 Jamaica	36.1	0.0	+12.6
30	🇨🇱 Chile	31.6	+1.9	+4.7
31	🇲🇺 Mauritius	31.3	+0.2	+11.9
32	🇬🇷 Greece	30.9	−0.1	+11.1
33	🇲🇹 Malta	30.3	−20.0	−20.4
34	🇬🇭 Ghana	29.3	−1.8	+18.6
35	🇵🇭 Philippines	28.4	+0.5	+2.2
36	🇲🇲 Burma/Myanmar	26.9	−1.2	+12.5
37	🇧🇷 Brazil	26.3	0.0	+1.4
38	🇵🇪 Peru	25.7	+0.6	+13.7
39	🇦🇷 Argentina	24.1	+12.4	+2.5
40	🇮🇩 Indonesia	22.4	−9.2	+9.6
41	🇸🇬 Singapore	22.3	+1.1	+5.8
42	🇲🇾 Malaysia	22.1	+0.7	+10.7
43	🇬🇾 Guyana	21.8	+4.0	+3.3
44	🇱🇧 Lebanon	20.3	−0.8	+1.0
45	🇵🇦 Panama	20.3	0.0	+3.8
46	🇹🇷 Türkiye	20.0	−0.3	+5.3
47	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	19.2	0.0	+7.9
48	🇪🇨 Ecuador	19.0	+0.3	+1.6
49	🇫🇯 Fiji	19.0	0.0	+0.3
50	South Yemen	18.8	0.0	+2.4
51	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	17.9	−0.4	−0.1
52	🇨🇴 Colombia	17.8	+7.6	+2.6
53	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	17.4	0.0	+0.1
54	🇸🇴 Somalia	17.3	0.0	+11.7
55	🇻🇪 Venezuela	16.9	+12.0	−4.8
56	Republic of Vietnam	16.6	0.0	+10.8
57	🇱🇦 Laos	16.4	+1.7	+3.6
58	🇯🇴 Jordan	16.1	−0.7	−0.3
59	Somaliland	15.3	+3.7	+4.4
60	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	15.2	−0.1	0.0
61	🇰🇭 Cambodia	15.1	−0.1	+5.7
62	🇸🇨 Seychelles	15.0	0.0	+5.9
63	🇸🇩 Sudan	14.8	+0.3	+10.4
64	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	14.8	+0.3	+4.3
65	🇰🇷 South Korea	14.6	0.0	+4.3
66	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	14.3	+0.3	+3.7
67	🇬🇲 The Gambia	14.0	0.0	+0.3
68	🇨🇺 Cuba	13.9	+0.1	−17.2
69	🇵🇱 Poland	13.5	+0.1	+2.9
70	🇳🇬 Nigeria	13.4	+0.5	+2.7
71	🇺🇬 Uganda	13.0	+1.8	+3.0
72	🇱🇾 Libya	12.9	0.0	—
73	🇮🇶 Iraq	12.8	−5.7	−3.4
74	🇸🇳 Senegal	12.0	0.0	+0.3
75	🇧🇹 Bhutan	11.8	+0.6	+3.9
76	🇲🇷 Mauritania	11.6	+0.8	+3.2
77	🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	11.5	−0.5	+1.3
78	🇧🇴 Bolivia	11.2	−0.1	+3.8
79	🇵🇰 Pakistan	11.1	−4.6	−5.4
80	🇰🇼 Kuwait	11.1	0.0	+0.3
81	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	10.9	+1.6	+4.2
82	🇿🇲 Zambia	10.7	+0.1	+0.2
83	Zanzibar	10.7	+0.6	+0.4
84	🇪🇬 Egypt	10.6	−2.6	−7.3
85	🇲🇽 Mexico	10.4	−0.1	+0.9
86	🇱🇷 Liberia	10.4	0.0	−2.7
87	🇹🇳 Tunisia	10.3	+2.6	+7.0
88	🇿🇦 South Africa	10.2	+0.1	−0.9
89	🇹🇿 Tanzania	10.2	+0.7	+1.2
90	🇧🇼 Botswana	10.2	0.0	+0.1
91	🇷🇸 Serbia	9.7	−0.1	+2.6
92	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	9.7	0.0	+1.8
93	🇳🇪 Niger	9.6	+0.2	+2.4
94	🇱🇸 Lesotho	9.2	0.0	+1.2
95	🇸🇾 Syria	9.2	−10.6	−11.0
96	🇹🇭 Thailand	9.1	−1.1	−2.1
97	🇹🇩 Chad	9.1	+0.6	+2.8
98	🇪🇷 Eritrea	9.1	−0.1	+0.1
99	🇹🇬 Togo	9.0	+2.0	+4.6
100	Palestine/Gaza	9.0	0.0	+0.1
101	🇭🇳 Honduras	8.9	+0.3	+1.6
102	🇲🇬 Madagascar	8.9	0.0	+1.5
103	🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	8.8	−0.1	+0.7
104	🇲🇱 Mali	8.4	−2.0	−0.8
105	🇧🇯 Benin	8.3	0.0	+3.9
106	🇨🇾 Cyprus	8.3	−0.1	−1.3
107	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	8.3	0.0	0.0
108	🇬🇦 Gabon	8.0	+0.9	+3.2
109	🇬🇹 Guatemala	7.9	+1.1	−15.2
110	🇻🇳 Vietnam	7.7	−0.2	−4.8
111	🇭🇺 Hungary	7.5	+0.4	−4.6
112	🇵🇹 Portugal	7.3	0.0	+0.1
113	🇸🇿 Eswatini	7.3	0.0	+0.3
114	🇳🇵 Nepal	7.2	+0.1	+5.3
115	🇲🇦 Morocco	7.2	+0.1	+2.6
116	🇸🇻 El Salvador	6.7	0.0	+0.5
117	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	6.6	0.0	−0.1
118	German Democratic Republic	6.6	+0.2	—
119	🇰🇪 Kenya	6.5	0.0	+1.2
120	🇮🇷 Iran	6.4	0.0	−3.6
121	🇲🇻 Maldives	6.3	0.0	−0.8
122	🇪🇸 Spain	6.2	+0.2	+0.3
123	🇳🇦 Namibia	5.7	0.0	+0.1
124	🇰🇲 Comoros	5.6	0.0	+0.9
125	🇹🇼 Taiwan	5.5	0.0	+2.3
126	🇧🇮 Burundi	5.5	+0.1	+0.5
127	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	5.5	−0.1	−0.3
128	🇦🇱 Albania	5.4	0.0	+0.2
129	🇬🇳 Guinea	5.4	−0.3	+0.5
130	🇲🇳 Mongolia	5.2	0.0	+1.4
131	🇶🇦 Qatar	5.0	0.0	0.0
132	🇨🇿 Czechia	4.4	+0.9	−0.4
133	🇲🇼 Malawi	4.1	0.0	+0.1
134	🇵🇾 Paraguay	4.1	−0.1	−0.8
135	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	3.8	0.0	+0.2
136	🇨🇳 China	3.7	−0.1	−5.3
137	🇩🇿 Algeria	3.5	0.0	−5.9
138	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	3.4	0.0	+0.2
139	🇨🇻 Cape Verde	3.4	0.0	+0.1
140	🇦🇴 Angola	3.4	0.0	0.0
141	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	3.4	0.0	+0.1
142	🇩🇯 Djibouti	3.4	0.0	+0.6
143	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	3.3	0.0	+0.9
144	🇷🇼 Rwanda	3.3	+0.2	+0.7
145	🇷🇴 Romania	3.3	0.0	0.0
146	🇭🇹 Haiti	3.1	−0.2	−6.7
147	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	3.0	0.0	0.0
148	🇾🇪 Yemen	2.9	0.0	+1.7
149	🇴🇲 Oman	2.5	0.0	+0.1
150	🇷🇺 Russia	2.4	0.0	+0.9
151	🇲🇿 Mozambique	2.0	0.0	0.0
152	🇰🇵 North Korea	1.6	−0.1	+1.0
153	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	1.5	0.0	+0.3
154	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	1.3	0.0	+0.1

Frequently asked questions

Which countries are the most liberal democracies?

Denmark ranks #1 of 154 countries on the V-Dem liberal democracy index index in 1958, with the highest score of 87.3 on a 0–100 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 1958?

In 1958, the top three of 154 ranked countries are Denmark (87.3), Germany (78.5), and Australia (77.6).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 1958?

Guinea-Bissau ranks #154 of 154 with a score of 1.3.

Which country changed most on liberal democracy index over the last decade?

Costa Rica shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 46.4 points over the past decade, standing at 62.5 (rank #19) in 1958.

How is the liberal democracy index index measured?

The index comes from the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) project; scores are shown here on a 0–100 scale (higher-precision source data runs 0–1). Higher scores are better. The 1958 edition covers 154 countries.