Democracy Index 2015

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 2015 — 179 countries scored 0–1, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Rank	Country	Score	1y change	10y change
1	Denmark	0.896	±0.000	±0.000
2	Sweden	0.883	−0.003	+0.009
3	Norway	0.862	+0.006	+0.002
4	Switzerland	0.860	−0.001	+0.017
5	Costa Rica	0.854	−0.002	+0.013
6	United States of America	0.848	+0.001	+0.047
7	Germany	0.847	±0.000	−0.014
8	Estonia	0.847	+0.008	+0.034
9	Chile	0.840	−0.009	+0.018
10	Belgium	0.840	−0.003	+0.025
11	New Zealand	0.835	+0.002	+0.007
12	Uruguay	0.833	−0.012	+0.009
13	Netherlands	0.832	±0.000	+0.023
14	Portugal	0.831	±0.000	−0.005
15	Finland	0.830	−0.026	−0.004
16	Australia	0.829	+0.014	−0.003
17	Ireland	0.826	+0.001	+0.015
18	France	0.813	−0.007	+0.016
19	Austria	0.808	±0.000	+0.020
20	Slovenia	0.808	+0.010	+0.070
21	Luxembourg	0.795	±0.000	+0.004
22	United Kingdom	0.791	−0.009	−0.013
23	Italy	0.787	±0.000	+0.023
24	Greece	0.782	−0.018	−0.024
25	Iceland	0.782	+0.004	+0.002
26	Lithuania	0.781	+0.007	+0.021
27	Poland	0.779	−0.038	−0.035
28	Czechia	0.776	±0.000	−0.047
29	Brazil	0.772	−0.012	−0.008
30	Spain	0.762	−0.014	−0.043
31	Latvia	0.756	+0.004	+0.048
32	Japan	0.748	+0.001	−0.024
33	Canada	0.745	+0.002	−0.011
34	Cyprus	0.740	+0.008	+0.036
35	Slovakia	0.733	+0.001	−0.015
36	Cape Verde	0.718	+0.001	+0.034
37	Croatia	0.701	−0.008	+0.064
38	Peru	0.688	+0.002	+0.028
39	Jamaica	0.683	±0.000	+0.048
40	Taiwan	0.681	±0.000	+0.009
41	Barbados	0.664	±0.000	+0.010
42	Israel	0.656	−0.007	−0.032
43	South Africa	0.649	+0.012	+0.002
44	Trinidad and Tobago	0.645	+0.015	+0.006
45	Suriname	0.637	+0.006	−0.024
46	Vanuatu	0.637	+0.015	+0.127
47	Ghana	0.633	−0.003	−0.006
48	Tunisia	0.626	−0.011	+0.531
49	Mauritius	0.626	+0.007	−0.013
50	Romania	0.609	+0.042	+0.144
51	South Korea	0.606	+0.004	−0.166
52	Argentina	0.601	−0.003	−0.031
53	Botswana	0.592	−0.016	−0.028
54	Malta	0.590	−0.002	−0.018
55	Senegal	0.588	+0.004	+0.057
56	Namibia	0.580	+0.036	+0.034
57	Sao Tome and Principe	0.576	+0.007	+0.034
58	Bulgaria	0.568	+0.003	−0.043
59	Colombia	0.557	+0.004	+0.118
60	Panama	0.557	+0.011	+0.002
61	Mongolia	0.551	−0.005	−0.003
62	Nepal	0.532	+0.035	+0.384
63	Benin	0.529	+0.044	+0.017
64	Indonesia	0.511	−0.006	−0.026
65	Georgia	0.506	+0.010	+0.129
66	Niger	0.487	−0.005	+0.065
67	Bhutan	0.481	±0.000	+0.317
68	Hungary	0.478	−0.040	−0.277
69	Moldova	0.474	−0.044	+0.132
70	Timor-Leste	0.471	−0.002	+0.056
71	El Salvador	0.465	−0.005	+0.129
72	Liberia	0.451	−0.001	+0.182
73	Guyana	0.450	+0.060	+0.079
74	Lesotho	0.449	−0.033	−0.005
75	Kosovo	0.446	+0.039	+0.075
76	Malawi	0.445	+0.007	+0.074
77	Solomon Islands	0.443	+0.003	+0.048
78	Albania	0.442	−0.001	+0.013
79	Mexico	0.433	+0.009	−0.078
80	Guatemala	0.433	+0.020	+0.052
81	Philippines	0.429	+0.001	+0.076
82	Seychelles	0.425	+0.024	+0.080
83	India	0.422	−0.070	−0.148
84	Kenya	0.422	±0.000	+0.066
85	Paraguay	0.417	+0.006	−0.006
86	Nigeria	0.401	+0.015	+0.109
87	Sri Lanka	0.395	+0.124	+0.120
88	Tanzania	0.392	−0.005	+0.023
89	Montenegro	0.375	+0.003	−0.001
90	Bolivia	0.372	−0.017	−0.162
91	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.369	−0.006	−0.060
92	Zambia	0.368	−0.016	−0.051
93	Mali	0.350	+0.024	−0.071
94	Serbia	0.346	−0.010	−0.178
95	Papua New Guinea	0.341	+0.001	−0.060
96	Singapore	0.325	±0.000	+0.024
97	Ivory Coast	0.324	+0.004	+0.027
98	Kyrgyzstan	0.314	±0.000	+0.128
99	Sierra Leone	0.312	±0.000	−0.038
100	Burkina Faso	0.307	−0.117	−0.021
101	Guinea-Bissau	0.305	+0.026	+0.032
102	Dominican Republic	0.300	−0.010	−0.040
103	Lebanon	0.299	−0.010	+0.066
104	Hong Kong	0.299	−0.010	−0.021
105	Mozambique	0.296	−0.004	−0.015
106	Kuwait	0.286	−0.001	−0.009
107	Fiji	0.268	+0.123	−0.106
108	North Macedonia	0.268	−0.007	−0.189
109	Pakistan	0.267	−0.019	+0.072
110	Ecuador	0.263	−0.002	−0.196
111	Togo	0.261	+0.003	+0.109
112	Iraq	0.255	−0.001	+0.133
113	Comoros	0.252	−0.045	−0.012
114	Madagascar	0.249	+0.026	−0.016
115	Uganda	0.246	−0.005	−0.004
116	Somaliland	0.246	±0.000	+0.011
117	Honduras	0.242	−0.025	−0.088
118	Türkiye	0.233	−0.026	−0.261
119	Zanzibar	0.232	−0.019	+0.007
120	Morocco	0.229	−0.002	+0.001
121	Gabon	0.228	±0.000	+0.026
122	Haiti	0.226	−0.020	+0.140
123	Ukraine	0.224	+0.012	−0.064
124	Jordan	0.223	+0.001	+0.017
125	Zimbabwe	0.208	−0.001	+0.057
126	Malaysia	0.206	−0.006	−0.004
127	Afghanistan	0.204	+0.003	+0.091
128	Armenia	0.204	±0.000	+0.015
129	Maldives	0.187	−0.021	+0.072
130	Burma/Myanmar	0.183	+0.018	+0.166
131	Central African Republic	0.181	+0.010	+0.008
132	Mauritania	0.180	+0.004	+0.061
133	Libya	0.170	−0.003	+0.129
134	Algeria	0.166	+0.002	+0.007
135	Palestine/West Bank	0.163	−0.001	−0.167
136	Guinea	0.160	+0.004	+0.048
137	Cameroon	0.154	−0.001	−0.002
138	Oman	0.143	±0.000	+0.017
139	Rwanda	0.136	±0.000	+0.014
140	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.128	−0.005	+0.028
141	Nicaragua	0.126	±0.000	−0.254
142	Iran	0.126	+0.004	+0.006
143	Angola	0.123	±0.000	+0.036
144	Somalia	0.122	+0.003	+0.028
145	Vietnam	0.118	±0.000	+0.008
146	Djibouti	0.115	±0.000	−0.001
147	Cambodia	0.114	+0.002	−0.009
148	Kazakhstan	0.113	+0.003	−0.008
149	Bangladesh	0.109	+0.001	−0.124
150	Russia	0.107	−0.001	−0.043
151	The Gambia	0.107	+0.001	−0.012
152	Thailand	0.106	−0.012	−0.263
153	Republic of the Congo	0.106	±0.000	+0.006
154	Venezuela	0.104	+0.003	−0.077
155	Ethiopia	0.103	−0.001	−0.013
156	Belarus	0.102	+0.003	+0.006
157	Eswatini	0.096	±0.000	+0.002
158	Egypt	0.095	+0.010	−0.060
159	Chad	0.093	+0.001	−0.004
160	Qatar	0.091	±0.000	−0.007
161	United Arab Emirates	0.090	+0.003	+0.022
162	Laos	0.074	±0.000	±0.000
163	Yemen	0.070	−0.047	−0.080
164	South Sudan	0.066	−0.001	—
165	Sudan	0.065	+0.003	+0.002
166	Azerbaijan	0.064	−0.001	−0.011
167	Palestine/Gaza	0.063	−0.006	—
168	Burundi	0.062	−0.038	−0.084
169	Cuba	0.057	±0.000	+0.016
170	China	0.051	±0.000	−0.004
171	Equatorial Guinea	0.051	−0.002	−0.003
172	Saudi Arabia	0.046	±0.000	+0.004
173	Tajikistan	0.044	−0.010	−0.031
174	Bahrain	0.043	−0.001	−0.043
175	Uzbekistan	0.036	−0.002	+0.004
176	Syria	0.025	−0.001	−0.026
177	Turkmenistan	0.025	±0.000	+0.011
178	North Korea	0.014	±0.000	±0.000
179	Eritrea	0.006	−0.001	±0.000

Frequently asked questions

Which countries are the most liberal democracies?

Denmark ranks #1 of 179 countries on the V-Dem liberal democracy index index in 2015, with the highest score of 0.896 on a 0–1 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 2015?

In 2015, the top three of 179 ranked countries are Denmark (0.896), Sweden (0.883), and Norway (0.862).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 2015?

Eritrea ranks #179 of 179 with a score of 0.006.

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

Tunisia shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 0.531 points over the past decade, standing at 0.626 (rank #48) in 2015.

How is the liberal democracy index index measured?

The index comes from the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) project and runs from 0 to 1. Higher scores are better. The 2015 edition covers 179 countries.