Democracy Index 2001

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 2001 — 176 countries scored on a 0–100 scale, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Liberal Democracy Index rankings, 2001 — 176 countries scored 0–100 (V-Dem)
Rank	Country	Score (0–100)	1y change	10y change
1	🇩🇰 Denmark	87.9	+0.1	−0.2
2	🇸🇪 Sweden	87.6	0.0	−0.2
3	🇩🇪 Germany	86.0	0.0	+0.7
4	🇳🇴 Norway	85.8	+0.1	+1.3
5	🇦🇺 Australia	84.4	−0.3	−0.7
6	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	84.1	+0.1	0.0
7	🇨🇭 Switzerland	83.6	0.0	+0.4
8	🇫🇮 Finland	83.4	0.0	+1.1
9	🇳🇿 New Zealand	82.7	0.0	+1.8
10	🇧🇪 Belgium	81.9	0.0	+2.1
11	🇪🇸 Spain	81.7	0.0	+0.6
12	🇵🇹 Portugal	81.6	+0.3	+1.3
13	🇨🇱 Chile	81.1	+0.1	+6.1
14	🇮🇪 Ireland	80.9	0.0	+3.0
15	🇳🇱 Netherlands	80.8	0.0	−0.6
16	🇪🇪 Estonia	80.8	0.0	+28.8
17	🇵🇱 Poland	80.6	+0.6	+2.3
18	🇺🇾 Uruguay	80.2	+0.5	+4.0
19	🇬🇷 Greece	80.2	+0.4	+1.4
20	🇨🇿 Czechia	80.1	0.0	+0.5
21	🇫🇷 France	79.8	0.0	−0.4
22	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	79.2	+0.7	+5.0
23	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	78.7	0.0	+0.2
24	🇦🇹 Austria	78.2	0.0	+0.3
25	🇮🇸 Iceland	78.0	0.0	+0.4
26	🇺🇸 United States of America	76.9	−3.9	−3.6
27	🇯🇵 Japan	76.2	0.0	+0.8
28	🇰🇷 South Korea	75.7	+0.4	+25.7
29	🇱🇹 Lithuania	75.7	−0.2	+4.3
30	🇨🇦 Canada	75.2	−0.4	−0.2
31	🇸🇰 Slovakia	75.0	0.0	—
32	🇭🇺 Hungary	75.0	0.0	−0.7
33	🇮🇹 Italy	74.6	−1.0	+0.8
34	🇸🇮 Slovenia	74.2	−0.7	+2.6
35	🇧🇷 Brazil	71.7	0.0	+2.5
36	🇱🇻 Latvia	70.2	0.0	+20.7
37	🇮🇱 Israel	68.8	−0.5	−0.2
38	🇹🇼 Taiwan	68.2	+0.8	+44.4
39	🇨🇾 Cyprus	67.8	+1.0	+5.4
40	🇨🇻 Cape Verde	67.7	−0.8	+10.8
41	🇦🇷 Argentina	67.4	+0.4	+4.4
42	🇸🇷 Suriname	66.2	−0.3	+28.8
43	🇧🇧 Barbados	65.4	0.0	+0.8
44	🇲🇺 Mauritius	64.2	+0.1	+3.7
45	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	63.3	−2.7	−0.2
46	🇿🇦 South Africa	62.9	0.0	+48.1
47	🇬🇭 Ghana	62.2	+5.2	+52.5
48	🇭🇷 Croatia	62.2	+1.2	+46.2
49	🇧🇼 Botswana	60.7	0.0	+3.0
50	🇲🇹 Malta	59.7	0.0	+4.0
51	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	59.5	−2.2	+8.7
52	🇮🇳 India	58.4	0.0	+2.3
53	🇵🇪 Peru	56.7	+38.2	+17.7
54	🇵🇦 Panama	55.8	+0.9	+5.1
55	🇯🇲 Jamaica	54.9	0.0	+10.1
56	🇲🇳 Mongolia	54.1	−1.1	+14.6
57	🇳🇦 Namibia	53.7	−0.3	+4.7
58	🇧🇴 Bolivia	52.0	−0.7	+6.4
59	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	51.8	0.0	−5.2
60	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	51.1	+0.2	+10.8
61	🇮🇩 Indonesia	50.5	0.0	+44.8
62	🇧🇯 Benin	49.9	−0.2	+13.8
63	🇲🇽 Mexico	48.4	+0.3	+28.8
64	🇷🇸 Serbia	48.1	+20.9	+37.8
65	🇪🇨 Ecuador	44.5	0.0	−2.2
66	🇸🇳 Senegal	44.1	−6.8	+5.2
67	🇹🇷 Türkiye	43.1	+0.6	+7.0
68	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	42.4	+3.0	—
69	🇷🇴 Romania	42.4	−0.8	+9.6
70	🇨🇴 Colombia	42.2	−0.4	+3.2
71	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	41.5	0.0	−1.0
72	🇹🇭 Thailand	41.2	+2.1	+25.4
73	🇵🇭 Philippines	40.9	−3.0	−2.4
74	🇳🇪 Niger	40.7	0.0	+15.3
75	🇿🇲 Zambia	39.4	+1.4	+14.6
76	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	39.1	0.0	+18.8
77	🇵🇾 Paraguay	39.1	0.0	+17.6
78	🇲🇼 Malawi	38.6	+0.7	+30.8
79	🇹🇿 Tanzania	37.3	−2.3	+9.5
80	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	37.3	−0.5	−9.8
81	🇲🇱 Mali	37.0	0.0	+21.6
82	🇦🇱 Albania	36.6	+2.4	+10.6
83	🇬🇹 Guatemala	36.2	0.0	+15.4
84	🇬🇾 Guyana	35.3	+1.9	+13.7
85	🇲🇩 Moldova	35.0	−8.8	+2.0
86	🇲🇪 Montenegro	34.8	+1.2	—
87	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	33.3	−1.9	+7.8
88	🇳🇬 Nigeria	32.7	0.0	+22.7
89	🇸🇻 El Salvador	32.6	+1.1	+23.7
90	🇭🇳 Honduras	32.6	0.0	+6.3
91	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	32.5	+0.1	+21.1
92	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	32.5	0.0	+5.0
93	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	31.9	+0.1	+4.5
94	🇸🇬 Singapore	30.9	0.0	+0.8
95	🇲🇿 Mozambique	29.7	0.0	+16.5
96	🇻🇪 Venezuela	28.8	−2.2	−33.0
97	🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	28.6	+11.2	+9.5
98	🇳🇵 Nepal	28.3	−0.8	−2.6
99	🇵🇸 Palestine/West Bank	27.6	+0.2	+20.4
100	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	27.1	−0.5	+1.8
101	🇭🇹 Haiti	27.0	−1.0	+10.4
102	🇲🇬 Madagascar	27.0	−0.2	+13.0
103	🇱🇸 Lesotho	25.9	0.0	+10.5
104	🇰🇼 Kuwait	25.9	−0.8	+14.4
105	🇸🇨 Seychelles	25.9	−0.5	+7.9
106	🇰🇪 Kenya	25.4	+0.1	+12.2
107	🇺🇦 Ukraine	23.3	+0.4	−3.5
108	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	23.2	+0.4	+18.4
109	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	23.0	+4.7	—
110	🇺🇬 Uganda	22.2	−1.4	+3.3
111	🇲🇦 Morocco	22.0	+0.7	+4.3
112	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	21.7	0.0	+8.6
113	Zanzibar	21.7	0.0	+9.4
114	🇦🇲 Armenia	21.1	+0.1	−13.7
115	🇬🇪 Georgia	20.9	+0.4	+6.9
116	🇱🇧 Lebanon	20.7	+1.3	+1.4
117	🇷🇺 Russia	20.1	−2.2	+7.2
118	🇬🇦 Gabon	20.0	+0.1	+1.1
119	🇫🇯 Fiji	18.4	−2.4	+3.6
120	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	18.4	−5.9	−23.0
121	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	17.1	−0.3	+0.1
122	🇹🇬 Togo	16.7	0.0	+4.1
123	🇲🇾 Malaysia	16.6	+0.1	+0.4
124	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	16.4	−2.3	−6.1
125	🇽🇰 Kosovo	16.2	+0.9	—
126	🇩🇿 Algeria	16.1	0.0	+0.4
127	🇱🇷 Liberia	16.0	−0.1	−1.7
128	🇨🇲 Cameroon	15.6	−0.1	+1.9
129	🇮🇷 Iran	15.4	−0.8	+4.3
130	🇧🇹 Bhutan	15.2	+0.2	+2.4
131	🇪🇬 Egypt	15.1	−0.3	−0.6
132	🇧🇮 Burundi	14.9	+0.2	+6.5
133	Somaliland	14.1	+0.2	+5.9
134	🇲🇷 Mauritania	14.0	+0.2	+9.1
135	🇾🇪 Yemen	13.6	0.0	−1.4
136	🇯🇴 Jordan	13.1	−0.1	−6.6
137	🇰🇭 Cambodia	12.6	+0.2	+9.8
138	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	12.5	−0.4	−4.6
139	🇬🇲 The Gambia	12.3	0.0	−20.9
140	🇩🇯 Djibouti	11.7	+0.1	+3.6
141	🇬🇳 Guinea	11.1	+0.1	+3.7
142	🇴🇲 Oman	11.1	+0.7	+4.2
143	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	11.0	0.0	+3.4
144	🇷🇼 Rwanda	10.4	0.0	−7.6
145	🇧🇾 Belarus	10.2	−0.5	−26.6
146	🇸🇿 Eswatini	9.7	0.0	−0.7
147	🇹🇩 Chad	9.6	−0.1	+3.9
148	🇰🇲 Comoros	9.6	−0.5	−10.1
149	🇻🇳 Vietnam	9.2	0.0	+1.7
150	🇹🇳 Tunisia	9.2	0.0	−0.1
151	🇵🇰 Pakistan	9.1	−0.3	−10.5
152	🇶🇦 Qatar	9.0	−0.1	+1.0
153	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	8.8	0.0	+2.8
154	🇱🇦 Laos	8.8	0.0	+0.1
155	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	8.4	+0.1	−4.5
156	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	8.0	−0.1	−1.5
157	🇦🇴 Angola	7.9	+0.2	+2.4
158	🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	7.5	0.0	−10.0
159	🇨🇳 China	7.1	+0.1	+0.6
160	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	7.0	0.0	+1.5
161	🇮🇶 Iraq	6.9	0.0	+0.9
162	🇲🇻 Maldives	5.8	+0.1	0.0
163	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	5.5	+0.2	0.0
164	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	5.2	0.0	+0.3
165	🇸🇾 Syria	5.1	0.0	+1.4
166	🇱🇾 Libya	4.8	0.0	0.0
167	🇨🇺 Cuba	4.1	+0.1	+0.8
168	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	3.9	−0.1	+0.2
169	🇸🇩 Sudan	3.7	+1.9	+2.5
170	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	3.4	−0.1	−3.8
171	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	2.8	+0.6	−1.3
172	🇸🇴 Somalia	2.8	0.0	−0.9
173	🇲🇲 Burma/Myanmar	1.8	0.0	+0.1
174	🇪🇷 Eritrea	1.6	−1.1	−1.2
175	🇰🇵 North Korea	1.4	0.0	0.0
176	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	1.4	−0.1	−2.9

Frequently asked questions

Which countries are the most liberal democracies?

Denmark ranks #1 of 176 countries on the V-Dem liberal democracy index index in 2001, with the highest score of 87.9 on a 0–100 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 2001?

In 2001, the top three of 176 ranked countries are Denmark (87.9), Sweden (87.6), and Germany (86.0).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 2001?

Turkmenistan ranks #176 of 176 with a score of 1.4.

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

Ghana shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 52.5 points over the past decade, standing at 62.2 (rank #47) in 2001.

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 2001 edition covers 176 countries.