Democracy Index 1998

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 1998 — 174 countries scored on a 0–100 scale, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Liberal Democracy Index rankings, 1998 — 174 countries scored 0–100 (V-Dem)
Rank	Country	Score (0–100)	1y change	10y change
1	🇸🇪 Sweden	87.9	0.0	+0.5
2	🇩🇰 Denmark	87.9	−0.1	−0.1
3	🇩🇪 Germany	85.6	+0.2	+3.2
4	🇳🇴 Norway	84.8	+0.1	+1.8
5	🇦🇺 Australia	84.1	0.0	−0.3
6	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	84.1	+0.6	+3.7
7	🇨🇭 Switzerland	83.9	0.0	+2.7
8	🇫🇮 Finland	83.2	0.0	+2.8
9	🇳🇿 New Zealand	82.5	0.0	+1.9
10	🇪🇸 Spain	82.0	0.0	+1.0
11	🇵🇹 Portugal	81.6	0.0	0.0
12	🇧🇪 Belgium	81.3	+0.1	+3.7
13	🇺🇸 United States of America	81.0	−0.1	+1.3
14	🇨🇿 Czechia	80.8	−0.8	+76.1
15	🇪🇪 Estonia	80.5	−0.1	—
16	🇮🇪 Ireland	80.4	+0.2	+4.9
17	🇺🇾 Uruguay	80.4	+0.9	+7.8
18	🇳🇱 Netherlands	79.9	−0.6	−1.3
19	🇫🇷 France	79.8	−0.2	−0.2
20	🇬🇷 Greece	79.8	0.0	+3.0
21	🇵🇱 Poland	79.6	+0.4	+64.1
22	🇨🇱 Chile	78.6	+0.2	+72.6
23	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	78.4	0.0	+0.5
24	🇮🇸 Iceland	78.3	0.0	+1.3
25	🇦🇹 Austria	78.0	0.0	0.0
26	🇸🇮 Slovenia	76.4	+0.2	—
27	🇮🇹 Italy	75.8	0.0	+3.3
28	🇯🇵 Japan	75.7	0.0	+0.6
29	🇨🇦 Canada	75.6	−0.4	−0.1
30	🇱🇹 Lithuania	75.4	−0.4	—
31	🇭🇺 Hungary	75.4	−0.3	+63.2
32	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	74.9	+0.3	+2.3
33	🇰🇷 South Korea	72.9	+9.1	+26.0
34	🇧🇷 Brazil	71.1	0.0	+18.3
35	🇱🇻 Latvia	69.6	+0.2	—
36	🇮🇱 Israel	69.6	0.0	+2.0
37	🇨🇻 Cape Verde	69.2	0.0	+41.4
38	🇸🇷 Suriname	65.2	0.0	+17.8
39	🇧🇧 Barbados	64.7	0.0	+2.2
40	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	64.6	0.0	+3.2
41	🇦🇷 Argentina	63.4	0.0	−3.8
42	🇨🇾 Cyprus	62.9	−0.7	+6.5
43	🇸🇰 Slovakia	62.6	+8.6	—
44	🇲🇺 Mauritius	61.7	0.0	+0.6
45	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	60.9	0.0	+55.1
46	🇧🇼 Botswana	60.4	+0.3	+4.6
47	🇲🇳 Mongolia	60.0	+0.2	+54.1
48	🇲🇹 Malta	59.8	−0.1	+5.3
49	🇮🇳 India	59.3	+0.2	+7.6
50	🇻🇪 Venezuela	57.5	−2.8	−0.9
51	🇿🇦 South Africa	56.4	+0.4	+44.5
52	🇳🇦 Namibia	55.3	0.0	+47.2
53	🇵🇦 Panama	52.4	−1.0	+45.4
54	🇯🇲 Jamaica	52.2	+2.3	+10.4
55	🇧🇴 Bolivia	51.8	0.0	+10.1
56	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	51.7	−0.1	−5.7
57	🇬🇭 Ghana	50.5	0.0	+41.7
58	🇧🇯 Benin	50.0	0.0	+41.6
59	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	49.5	+0.3	+32.7
60	🇹🇼 Taiwan	49.3	+1.0	+32.4
61	🇸🇳 Senegal	47.4	+0.2	+10.4
62	🇪🇨 Ecuador	45.9	+0.9	+2.9
63	🇲🇼 Malawi	43.9	0.0	+36.2
64	🇷🇴 Romania	43.8	0.0	+39.6
65	🇲🇩 Moldova	42.9	+1.7	—
66	🇵🇭 Philippines	42.8	+1.2	+1.1
67	🇨🇴 Colombia	42.3	−0.6	+12.2
68	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	41.5	+0.1	−1.1
69	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	40.9	0.0	+23.9
70	🇫🇯 Fiji	40.4	0.0	+26.0
71	🇹🇿 Tanzania	40.3	0.0	+15.2
72	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	39.6	−1.3	−2.7
73	🇹🇷 Türkiye	38.9	−0.2	+6.8
74	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	38.8	+2.6	—
75	🇵🇾 Paraguay	38.6	+0.3	+33.5
76	🇹🇭 Thailand	38.4	+3.6	+13.2
77	🇲🇽 Mexico	37.8	+3.2	+21.9
78	🇿🇲 Zambia	37.4	0.0	+22.6
79	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	37.2	+1.5	+13.5
80	🇲🇱 Mali	36.6	−2.6	+23.9
81	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	35.0	+1.0	—
82	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	33.7	−0.9	+5.4
83	🇬🇾 Guyana	33.6	+3.2	+12.7
84	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	32.5	+0.3	+10.9
85	🇦🇱 Albania	32.3	+1.2	+26.5
86	🇳🇵 Nepal	31.0	−0.1	+20.7
87	🇭🇳 Honduras	30.9	+0.2	+11.3
88	🇸🇬 Singapore	30.4	0.0	+1.4
89	🇲🇿 Mozambique	30.2	+0.1	+25.1
90	🇸🇻 El Salvador	28.9	+0.7	+20.8
91	🇭🇹 Haiti	28.8	+0.1	+18.5
92	🇱🇸 Lesotho	28.8	+3.0	+16.8
93	🇬🇹 Guatemala	28.4	+0.2	+8.9
94	🇷🇺 Russia	28.2	−0.2	+23.9
95	🇵🇸 Palestine/West Bank	28.1	+0.5	+20.5
96	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	27.5	0.0	+11.8
97	🇲🇬 Madagascar	27.1	−0.8	+17.4
98	🇰🇼 Kuwait	27.0	+0.1	+14.7
99	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	26.2	+0.5	+16.1
100	🇭🇷 Croatia	26.1	+0.2	—
101	🇸🇨 Seychelles	25.9	+0.1	+8.9
102	🇺🇦 Ukraine	25.7	−4.2	—
103	🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	24.1	+0.2	+10.0
104	🇺🇬 Uganda	23.9	0.0	+9.9
105	🇳🇪 Niger	22.8	0.0	+12.7
106	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	22.6	−0.3	+0.5
107	🇰🇪 Kenya	22.5	+1.6	+12.9
108	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	22.0	0.0	+10.4
109	🇦🇲 Armenia	21.4	−1.0	—
110	🇬🇪 Georgia	21.3	+0.6	—
111	🇰🇲 Comoros	20.9	+0.1	+11.4
112	🇬🇦 Gabon	20.3	0.0	+10.1
113	Zanzibar	20.2	0.0	+7.8
114	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	20.1	0.0	+15.6
115	🇵🇰 Pakistan	19.9	+0.3	+7.2
116	🇲🇦 Morocco	19.8	+0.5	+4.7
117	🇯🇴 Jordan	19.5	0.0	+2.3
118	🇲🇪 Montenegro	19.1	—	—
119	🇱🇧 Lebanon	18.8	0.0	+0.3
120	🇷🇸 Serbia	18.5	−0.3	+4.7
121	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	17.7	+0.5	—
122	🇹🇬 Togo	16.2	−0.5	+9.9
123	🇱🇷 Liberia	16.1	+3.2	+3.2
124	🇲🇾 Malaysia	16.1	0.0	+0.6
125	🇮🇷 Iran	15.9	+1.0	+5.5
126	🇪🇬 Egypt	15.5	0.0	−1.7
127	🇩🇿 Algeria	15.0	−0.3	+3.2
128	🇧🇮 Burundi	14.8	−0.1	+6.3
129	🇨🇲 Cameroon	14.7	+0.3	+4.6
130	🇧🇹 Bhutan	14.1	+1.0	+1.7
131	Somaliland	13.7	+0.6	—
132	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	13.4	−0.2	—
133	🇲🇷 Mauritania	13.3	+0.1	+8.8
134	🇾🇪 Yemen	13.2	−0.5	+6.6
135	🇰🇭 Cambodia	13.2	−0.5	+11.1
136	🇧🇾 Belarus	13.1	−0.8	—
137	🇬🇲 The Gambia	12.9	+0.3	−20.3
138	🇷🇼 Rwanda	12.4	+0.2	−2.7
139	🇵🇪 Peru	12.0	−0.5	−30.5
140	🇮🇩 Indonesia	11.7	+6.5	+6.1
141	🇩🇯 Djibouti	11.4	+0.4	+3.2
142	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	11.1	0.0	+8.0
143	🇬🇳 Guinea	10.8	+0.1	+6.9
144	🇳🇬 Nigeria	10.7	+1.0	+0.9
145	🇹🇩 Chad	9.7	+0.1	+6.3
146	🇸🇿 Eswatini	9.5	−0.3	−1.0
147	🇹🇳 Tunisia	9.1	0.0	+1.5
148	🇶🇦 Qatar	8.8	+0.1	+1.3
149	🇱🇦 Laos	8.7	0.0	+1.6
150	🇴🇲 Oman	8.6	0.0	+2.0
151	🇻🇳 Vietnam	8.3	+0.1	+1.4
152	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	8.3	−0.1	—
153	🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	7.9	+1.3	+4.7
154	🇦🇴 Angola	7.6	0.0	+3.1
155	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	7.5	−1.9	−1.1
156	🇮🇶 Iraq	7.0	0.0	+0.4
157	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	7.0	0.0	+1.9
158	🇨🇳 China	6.9	+0.1	+0.2
159	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	6.6	+0.8	—
160	🇲🇻 Maldives	5.8	0.0	+0.1
161	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	5.1	0.0	+0.5
162	🇱🇾 Libya	4.8	0.0	0.0
163	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	3.9	+1.3	+0.5
164	🇨🇺 Cuba	3.9	+0.1	+0.6
165	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	3.9	0.0	+0.2
166	🇸🇾 Syria	3.8	+0.1	+0.3
167	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	3.7	−0.3	—
168	🇪🇷 Eritrea	3.3	−0.6	+2.4
169	🇸🇴 Somalia	2.7	0.0	−1.3
170	🇸🇩 Sudan	2.6	0.0	−13.6
171	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	2.4	0.0	—
172	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	2.2	0.0	−2.5
173	🇲🇲 Burma/Myanmar	1.7	0.0	+0.2
174	🇰🇵 North Korea	1.4	0.0	0.0

Frequently asked questions

Which countries are the most liberal democracies?

Sweden ranks #1 of 174 countries on the V-Dem liberal democracy index index in 1998, with the highest score of 87.9 on a 0–100 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 1998?

In 1998, the top three of 174 ranked countries are Sweden (87.9), Denmark (87.9), and Germany (85.6).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 1998?

North Korea ranks #174 of 174 with a score of 1.4.

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

Czechia shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 76.1 points over the past decade, standing at 80.8 (rank #14) in 1998.

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 1998 edition covers 174 countries.