Democracy Index 2002

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 2002 — 177 countries scored on a 0–100 scale, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Liberal Democracy Index rankings, 2002 — 177 countries scored 0–100 (V-Dem)
Rank	Country	Score (0–100)	1y change	10y change
1	🇩🇰 Denmark	88.0	+0.1	−0.1
2	🇸🇪 Sweden	87.6	0.0	−0.1
3	🇳🇴 Norway	86.0	+0.2	+1.5
4	🇩🇪 Germany	85.9	−0.1	+0.6
5	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	84.3	+0.2	+0.2
6	🇦🇺 Australia	83.8	−0.6	−1.3
7	🇨🇭 Switzerland	83.7	+0.1	+0.7
8	🇫🇮 Finland	83.4	0.0	+1.2
9	🇳🇿 New Zealand	82.6	−0.1	+1.7
10	🇵🇹 Portugal	82.1	+0.5	+1.8
11	🇧🇪 Belgium	81.9	0.0	+1.1
12	🇨🇱 Chile	81.7	+0.6	+6.7
13	🇪🇸 Spain	81.7	0.0	+0.6
14	🇵🇱 Poland	81.3	+0.7	+0.9
15	🇪🇪 Estonia	81.1	+0.3	+42.7
16	🇨🇿 Czechia	80.8	+0.7	+0.3
17	🇮🇪 Ireland	80.7	−0.2	+2.5
18	🇳🇱 Netherlands	80.3	−0.5	−1.1
19	🇺🇾 Uruguay	80.2	0.0	+4.0
20	🇬🇷 Greece	80.2	0.0	+1.3
21	🇫🇷 France	80.1	+0.3	−0.2
22	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	79.3	+0.1	+5.1
23	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	78.7	0.0	+0.2
24	🇦🇹 Austria	78.2	0.0	+0.1
25	🇮🇸 Iceland	78.0	0.0	+0.4
26	🇺🇸 United States of America	76.9	0.0	−4.0
27	🇯🇵 Japan	76.2	0.0	+0.8
28	🇰🇷 South Korea	76.1	+0.4	+24.9
29	🇱🇹 Lithuania	75.7	0.0	+2.6
30	🇸🇮 Slovenia	75.6	+1.4	−0.8
31	🇭🇺 Hungary	75.5	+0.5	−0.2
32	🇮🇹 Italy	75.1	+0.5	+0.4
33	🇸🇰 Slovakia	74.8	−0.2	—
34	🇨🇦 Canada	74.6	−0.6	−0.4
35	🇧🇷 Brazil	72.1	+0.4	+2.2
36	🇱🇻 Latvia	70.5	+0.3	+14.4
37	🇮🇱 Israel	68.9	+0.1	+0.6
38	🇹🇼 Taiwan	68.7	+0.5	+42.8
39	🇨🇾 Cyprus	68.4	+0.6	+5.2
40	🇨🇻 Cape Verde	68.2	+0.5	+4.7
41	🇸🇷 Suriname	66.2	0.0	+3.6
42	🇦🇷 Argentina	66.1	−1.3	+3.0
43	🇧🇧 Barbados	65.4	0.0	+0.8
44	🇵🇪 Peru	64.8	+8.1	+53.3
45	🇲🇺 Mauritius	64.8	+0.6	+3.9
46	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	64.3	+1.0	−0.1
47	🇬🇭 Ghana	62.9	+0.7	+51.5
48	🇿🇦 South Africa	62.9	0.0	+48.0
49	🇭🇷 Croatia	62.2	0.0	+44.2
50	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	61.9	+2.4	+2.1
51	🇧🇼 Botswana	60.7	0.0	+3.0
52	🇲🇹 Malta	59.7	0.0	+1.5
53	🇮🇳 India	58.7	+0.3	+1.5
54	🇯🇲 Jamaica	56.6	+1.7	+11.5
55	🇵🇦 Panama	55.8	0.0	+4.0
56	🇲🇳 Mongolia	55.1	+1.0	+1.8
57	🇸🇳 Senegal	53.6	+9.5	+14.0
58	🇳🇦 Namibia	53.4	−0.3	+4.4
59	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	51.9	+0.1	+0.7
60	🇮🇩 Indonesia	51.2	+0.7	+46.0
61	🇧🇴 Bolivia	51.0	−1.0	+4.8
62	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	50.5	−0.6	+1.2
63	🇧🇯 Benin	50.2	+0.3	+1.1
64	🇷🇸 Serbia	49.9	+1.8	+34.9
65	🇲🇽 Mexico	49.4	+1.0	+28.6
66	🇹🇷 Türkiye	48.7	+5.6	+11.8
67	🇪🇨 Ecuador	44.6	+0.1	−2.0
68	🇷🇴 Romania	42.4	0.0	+6.1
69	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	41.8	−0.6	+32.5
70	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	41.7	+18.7	—
71	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	41.5	0.0	−0.3
72	🇨🇴 Colombia	41.4	−0.8	−1.4
73	🇹🇭 Thailand	40.8	−0.4	+20.8
74	🇳🇪 Niger	40.7	0.0	+17.2
75	🇿🇲 Zambia	40.5	+1.1	+6.1
76	🇲🇱 Mali	40.3	+3.3	+5.9
77	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	39.9	+6.6	+14.3
78	🇦🇱 Albania	39.5	+2.9	+6.2
79	🇵🇭 Philippines	39.4	−1.5	−3.1
80	🇵🇾 Paraguay	39.1	0.0	+4.1
81	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	38.8	−0.3	+18.5
82	🇲🇼 Malawi	38.7	+0.1	+30.3
83	🇲🇩 Moldova	38.1	+3.1	+1.5
84	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	38.1	+19.7	−3.3
85	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	37.7	+0.4	−10.1
86	🇱🇸 Lesotho	37.7	+11.8	+22.0
87	🇹🇿 Tanzania	37.3	0.0	+4.2
88	🇲🇪 Montenegro	36.3	+1.5	—
89	🇬🇹 Guatemala	36.2	0.0	+15.4
90	🇬🇾 Guyana	36.2	+0.9	+10.6
91	🇽🇰 Kosovo	34.6	+18.4	—
92	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	34.0	+2.1	+5.6
93	🇸🇻 El Salvador	33.1	+0.5	+19.0
94	🇭🇳 Honduras	32.7	+0.1	+6.0
95	🇳🇬 Nigeria	32.7	0.0	+21.9
96	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	32.5	0.0	+11.3
97	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	32.5	0.0	+0.8
98	🇸🇬 Singapore	30.8	−0.1	+1.1
99	🇲🇿 Mozambique	29.4	−0.3	+15.6
100	🇰🇪 Kenya	29.1	+3.7	+10.5
101	🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	28.5	−0.1	+9.3
102	🇵🇸 Palestine/West Bank	27.6	0.0	+19.9
103	🇭🇹 Haiti	26.5	−0.5	+18.2
104	🇰🇼 Kuwait	26.3	+0.4	+2.7
105	🇸🇨 Seychelles	26.3	+0.4	+5.0
106	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	26.1	+17.3	+21.2
107	🇻🇪 Venezuela	25.5	−3.3	−35.4
108	🇫🇯 Fiji	25.3	+6.9	−2.3
109	🇺🇦 Ukraine	24.5	+1.2	−8.1
110	🇲🇬 Madagascar	24.5	−2.5	+9.7
111	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	23.9	+0.7	+18.5
112	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	23.6	−3.5	−3.6
113	Zanzibar	22.4	+0.7	+10.2
114	🇳🇵 Nepal	22.1	−6.2	−10.0
115	🇲🇦 Morocco	22.1	+0.1	+4.3
116	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	21.7	0.0	+6.5
117	🇺🇬 Uganda	21.4	−0.8	+2.4
118	🇬🇪 Georgia	20.8	−0.1	+11.0
119	🇱🇧 Lebanon	20.6	−0.1	+1.3
120	🇦🇲 Armenia	20.5	−0.6	−13.3
121	🇬🇦 Gabon	20.2	+0.2	+0.5
122	🇷🇺 Russia	17.5	−2.6	−12.4
123	🇲🇾 Malaysia	17.1	+0.5	+0.9
124	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	17.0	−0.1	−3.6
125	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	16.7	+0.3	−5.8
126	🇹🇬 Togo	16.6	−0.1	+1.6
127	🇩🇿 Algeria	16.1	0.0	+8.0
128	🇧🇹 Bhutan	15.9	+0.7	+3.0
129	🇱🇷 Liberia	15.8	−0.2	−2.1
130	🇨🇲 Cameroon	15.6	0.0	+1.2
131	🇮🇷 Iran	15.3	−0.1	+4.5
132	🇪🇬 Egypt	15.1	0.0	−0.6
133	Somaliland	15.0	+0.9	+6.8
134	🇧🇮 Burundi	14.9	0.0	+5.0
135	🇲🇷 Mauritania	14.3	+0.3	+3.6
136	🇾🇪 Yemen	13.7	+0.1	−1.4
137	🇰🇲 Comoros	13.5	+3.9	−6.6
138	🇵🇰 Pakistan	13.2	+4.1	−6.4
139	🇯🇴 Jordan	13.1	0.0	−6.5
140	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	12.5	0.0	−5.4
141	🇰🇭 Cambodia	12.4	−0.2	+8.3
142	🇩🇯 Djibouti	12.2	+0.5	+1.7
143	🇴🇲 Oman	12.2	+1.1	+3.8
144	🇬🇲 The Gambia	12.1	−0.2	−20.9
145	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	11.0	0.0	+1.6
146	🇬🇳 Guinea	11.0	−0.1	+3.1
147	🇷🇼 Rwanda	10.4	0.0	−8.9
148	🇧🇾 Belarus	10.0	−0.2	−34.3
149	🇸🇿 Eswatini	9.7	0.0	−0.7
150	🇮🇶 Iraq	9.5	+2.6	+3.5
151	🇹🇩 Chad	9.5	−0.1	+3.7
152	🇻🇳 Vietnam	9.2	0.0	+1.5
153	🇹🇳 Tunisia	9.1	−0.1	−0.2
154	🇶🇦 Qatar	9.0	0.0	+1.0
155	🇱🇦 Laos	8.9	+0.1	+0.6
156	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	8.5	+5.7	+5.2
157	🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	8.5	+1.0	−11.1
158	🇧🇭 Bahrain	8.2	—	—
159	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	8.0	−0.4	+0.3
160	🇦🇴 Angola	7.9	0.0	+0.3
161	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	7.9	−0.1	−12.7
162	🇨🇳 China	7.3	+0.2	+0.8
163	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	7.1	+0.1	+1.6
164	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	5.6	+0.1	+0.2
165	🇲🇻 Maldives	5.5	−0.3	−0.3
166	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	5.3	+0.1	+0.5
167	🇸🇾 Syria	5.1	0.0	+1.4
168	🇱🇾 Libya	4.8	0.0	0.0
169	🇨🇺 Cuba	4.1	0.0	+0.7
170	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	3.9	0.0	0.0
171	🇸🇩 Sudan	3.7	0.0	+1.7
172	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	3.4	0.0	−2.3
173	🇸🇴 Somalia	2.8	0.0	+0.2
174	🇲🇲 Burma/Myanmar	1.8	0.0	+0.1
175	🇰🇵 North Korea	1.4	0.0	0.0
176	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	1.4	0.0	−1.6
177	🇪🇷 Eritrea	1.1	−0.5	−2.9

Frequently asked questions

Which countries are the most liberal democracies?

Denmark ranks #1 of 177 countries on the V-Dem liberal democracy index index in 2002, with the highest score of 88.0 on a 0–100 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 2002?

In 2002, the top three of 177 ranked countries are Denmark (88.0), Sweden (87.6), and Norway (86.0).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 2002?

Eritrea ranks #177 of 177 with a score of 1.1.

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

Peru shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 53.3 points over the past decade, standing at 64.8 (rank #44) in 2002.

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 2002 edition covers 177 countries.