Democracy Index 1988

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 1988 — 155 countries scored on a 0–100 scale, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Liberal Democracy Index rankings, 1988 — 155 countries scored 0–100 (V-Dem)
Rank	Country	Score (0–100)	1y change	10y change
1	🇩🇰 Denmark	88.0	+0.1	0.0
2	🇸🇪 Sweden	87.4	+0.1	+0.1
3	🇦🇺 Australia	84.4	0.0	+2.9
4	🇳🇴 Norway	83.0	0.0	+2.4
5	🇩🇪 Germany	82.4	+0.1	+1.0
6	🇵🇹 Portugal	81.6	+0.7	+13.6
7	🇨🇭 Switzerland	81.2	−0.2	+1.0
8	🇳🇱 Netherlands	81.2	0.0	+1.9
9	🇪🇸 Spain	81.0	0.0	+15.3
10	🇳🇿 New Zealand	80.6	+0.2	+3.0
11	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	80.4	+0.9	+7.2
12	🇫🇮 Finland	80.4	0.0	+3.6
13	🇫🇷 France	80.0	+1.1	+2.7
14	🇺🇸 United States of America	79.7	−0.1	+2.9
15	🇦🇹 Austria	78.0	+0.4	+2.8
16	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	77.9	0.0	−0.2
17	🇧🇪 Belgium	77.6	−0.4	+0.3
18	🇮🇸 Iceland	77.0	+0.1	+4.8
19	🇬🇷 Greece	76.8	0.0	+3.8
20	🇨🇦 Canada	75.7	0.0	+1.6
21	🇮🇪 Ireland	75.5	+0.1	+2.7
22	🇯🇵 Japan	75.1	0.0	−0.1
23	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	72.6	+0.2	−1.6
24	🇺🇾 Uruguay	72.6	0.0	+68.4
25	🇮🇹 Italy	72.5	0.0	+6.0
26	🇮🇱 Israel	67.6	−1.1	−0.1
27	🇦🇷 Argentina	67.2	0.0	+62.5
28	🇧🇧 Barbados	62.5	0.0	+0.1
29	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	61.4	0.0	+6.6
30	🇲🇺 Mauritius	61.1	+0.2	+3.1
31	🇻🇪 Venezuela	58.4	0.0	−0.2
32	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	57.4	−0.8	+19.1
33	🇨🇾 Cyprus	56.4	+0.8	+10.4
34	🇧🇼 Botswana	55.8	+0.8	+4.3
35	🇲🇹 Malta	54.5	+1.7	+5.7
36	🇧🇷 Brazil	52.8	+15.8	+45.6
37	🇮🇳 India	51.7	−0.4	+0.3
38	🇸🇷 Suriname	47.4	+24.8	−15.0
39	🇰🇷 South Korea	46.9	+25.0	+37.1
40	🇪🇨 Ecuador	43.0	+2.8	+34.6
41	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	42.6	−0.6	−1.5
42	🇵🇪 Peru	42.5	0.0	+36.7
43	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	42.3	0.0	+4.7
44	🇯🇲 Jamaica	41.8	+0.4	+5.1
45	🇧🇴 Bolivia	41.7	+0.1	+39.6
46	🇵🇭 Philippines	41.7	+14.4	+36.2
47	🇸🇳 Senegal	37.0	+0.1	+6.6
48	🇬🇲 The Gambia	33.2	+0.1	+0.7
49	🇹🇷 Türkiye	32.1	+3.5	−5.5
50	🇨🇴 Colombia	30.1	−0.7	+2.1
51	🇸🇬 Singapore	29.0	0.0	+1.7
52	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	28.3	−0.6	−8.9
53	🇨🇻 Cape Verde	27.8	+1.1	+12.1
54	🇹🇭 Thailand	25.2	+3.1	+14.4
55	🇹🇿 Tanzania	25.1	0.0	+1.1
56	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	23.7	−0.3	+9.7
57	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	22.1	+3.6	+12.7
58	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	21.6	+0.1	+2.0
59	🇬🇾 Guyana	20.9	+0.5	+1.3
60	🇭🇳 Honduras	19.6	+0.4	+14.1
61	🇬🇹 Guatemala	19.5	0.0	+12.8
62	🇱🇧 Lebanon	18.5	−0.5	−1.0
63	🇪🇬 Egypt	17.2	+0.1	+1.1
64	🇯🇴 Jordan	17.2	+0.1	+6.1
65	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	17.0	+1.3	+13.6
66	🇸🇨 Seychelles	17.0	−0.1	+7.6
67	🇹🇼 Taiwan	16.9	+4.1	+9.1
68	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	16.8	0.0	+0.9
69	🇸🇩 Sudan	16.2	−0.2	+8.1
70	🇲🇽 Mexico	15.9	+1.4	+3.2
71	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	15.7	−1.1	+3.9
72	🇵🇱 Poland	15.5	+0.5	+2.0
73	🇲🇾 Malaysia	15.5	−0.8	−3.9
74	🇲🇦 Morocco	15.1	0.0	+0.8
75	🇷🇼 Rwanda	15.1	+0.1	+4.6
76	🇿🇲 Zambia	14.8	0.0	+0.1
77	🇫🇯 Fiji	14.4	−3.4	−27.7
78	🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	14.1	0.0	+0.1
79	🇺🇬 Uganda	14.0	+0.2	+12.3
80	🇷🇸 Serbia	13.8	+0.3	+1.6
81	🇱🇷 Liberia	12.9	−0.1	−0.8
82	🇲🇱 Mali	12.7	+0.1	+2.9
83	🇵🇰 Pakistan	12.7	+1.2	+6.1
84	🇧🇹 Bhutan	12.4	0.0	0.0
85	Zanzibar	12.4	−0.6	+3.1
86	🇰🇼 Kuwait	12.3	−0.2	−0.3
87	🇭🇺 Hungary	12.2	+1.3	+2.4
88	🇱🇸 Lesotho	12.0	+0.1	+0.1
89	🇿🇦 South Africa	11.9	+0.1	+2.6
90	🇩🇿 Algeria	11.8	+0.2	+1.3
91	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	11.6	+2.2	+9.0
92	🇸🇿 Eswatini	10.5	−0.1	+1.8
93	🇮🇷 Iran	10.4	+0.1	+2.2
94	🇭🇹 Haiti	10.3	+2.7	+6.8
95	🇳🇵 Nepal	10.3	0.0	+2.4
96	🇬🇦 Gabon	10.2	0.0	+0.1
97	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	10.1	−1.2	−4.8
98	🇳🇪 Niger	10.1	+1.0	+1.6
99	🇨🇲 Cameroon	10.1	+0.1	+3.1
100	🇳🇬 Nigeria	9.8	0.0	−0.1
101	🇲🇬 Madagascar	9.7	+0.1	+0.8
102	🇰🇪 Kenya	9.6	−0.4	−1.8
103	🇰🇲 Comoros	9.5	0.0	−0.1
104	South Yemen	9.0	0.0	−2.1
105	🇬🇭 Ghana	8.8	+0.6	0.0
106	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	8.6	0.0	−0.2
107	🇧🇮 Burundi	8.5	−4.2	+0.4
108	🇧🇯 Benin	8.4	0.0	+0.3
109	🇩🇯 Djibouti	8.2	0.0	+0.2
110	🇸🇻 El Salvador	8.1	0.0	+2.7
111	🇳🇦 Namibia	8.1	0.0	+2.1
112	🇲🇼 Malawi	7.7	0.0	0.0
113	🇹🇳 Tunisia	7.6	−7.8	−7.5
114	🇵🇸 Palestine/West Bank	7.6	0.0	−0.2
115	🇶🇦 Qatar	7.5	0.0	+0.2
116	🇱🇦 Laos	7.1	0.0	+0.3
117	🇵🇦 Panama	7.0	0.0	−0.5
118	🇻🇳 Vietnam	6.9	0.0	+1.1
119	🇨🇳 China	6.7	0.0	+2.4
120	🇾🇪 Yemen	6.6	+0.7	+0.5
121	🇮🇶 Iraq	6.6	0.0	+0.4
122	🇴🇲 Oman	6.6	+0.1	+0.5
123	🇹🇬 Togo	6.3	0.0	+2.0
124	German Democratic Republic	6.3	0.0	0.0
125	🇨🇱 Chile	6.0	+0.8	+2.8
126	🇲🇳 Mongolia	5.9	0.0	+0.1
127	🇦🇱 Albania	5.8	0.0	+0.2
128	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	5.8	0.0	+0.1
129	🇲🇻 Maldives	5.7	0.0	−0.4
130	🇮🇩 Indonesia	5.6	−0.1	−0.4
131	🇲🇿 Mozambique	5.1	+0.1	+0.2
132	🇵🇾 Paraguay	5.1	+0.1	+0.9
133	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	5.1	0.0	+0.3
134	🇱🇾 Libya	4.8	0.0	+0.1
135	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	4.7	+0.2	−0.3
136	🇨🇿 Czechia	4.7	−1.1	−0.8
137	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	4.6	+0.2	+3.8
138	🇲🇷 Mauritania	4.5	0.0	−4.3
139	🇦🇴 Angola	4.5	0.0	−0.1
140	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	4.5	0.0	−1.1
141	🇷🇺 Russia	4.3	+0.2	+1.9
142	🇷🇴 Romania	4.2	0.0	0.0
143	🇸🇴 Somalia	4.0	0.0	+2.0
144	🇬🇳 Guinea	3.9	0.0	+0.3
145	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	3.7	0.0	0.0
146	🇸🇾 Syria	3.5	0.0	−0.2
147	🇹🇩 Chad	3.4	0.0	−1.7
148	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	3.4	+0.1	+0.1
149	🇨🇺 Cuba	3.3	0.0	0.0
150	🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	3.2	0.0	+1.0
151	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	3.1	+1.4	+1.6
152	🇰🇭 Cambodia	2.1	0.0	+0.3
153	🇲🇲 Burma/Myanmar	1.5	−1.2	−1.2
154	🇰🇵 North Korea	1.4	0.0	0.0
155	🇪🇷 Eritrea	0.9	0.0	−0.1

Frequently asked questions

Which countries are the most liberal democracies?

Denmark ranks #1 of 155 countries on the V-Dem liberal democracy index index in 1988, with the highest score of 88.0 on a 0–100 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 1988?

In 1988, the top three of 155 ranked countries are Denmark (88.0), Sweden (87.4), and Australia (84.4).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 1988?

Eritrea ranks #155 of 155 with a score of 0.9.

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

Uruguay shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 68.4 points over the past decade, standing at 72.6 (rank #24) in 1988.

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 1988 edition covers 155 countries.