Democracy Index 2017

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 2017 — 179 countries scored on a 0–100 scale, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Liberal Democracy Index rankings, 2017 — 179 countries scored 0–100 (V-Dem)
Rank	Country	Score (0–100)	1y change	10y change
1	🇩🇰 Denmark	89.1	−0.1	−0.5
2	🇸🇪 Sweden	88.0	0.0	−0.1
3	🇪🇪 Estonia	86.1	+0.2	+5.0
4	🇨🇭 Switzerland	86.0	+0.3	+1.8
5	🇳🇴 Norway	85.5	−0.4	−0.9
6	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	85.0	−0.2	−0.4
7	🇵🇹 Portugal	84.8	+1.8	+0.9
8	🇨🇱 Chile	84.2	+0.3	0.0
9	🇩🇪 Germany	84.2	−0.6	−2.2
10	🇧🇪 Belgium	83.6	−0.1	+0.8
11	🇫🇮 Finland	83.6	+0.9	−0.6
12	🇳🇱 Netherlands	83.3	+0.2	+1.0
13	🇦🇺 Australia	82.8	−0.5	−1.1
14	🇺🇾 Uruguay	82.8	−0.4	+0.5
15	🇳🇿 New Zealand	82.2	−0.6	0.0
16	🇮🇪 Ireland	82.1	+0.6	+0.6
17	🇫🇷 France	81.7	+0.5	+1.0
18	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	80.1	+1.4	−0.6
19	🇮🇹 Italy	79.7	+0.6	+1.5
20	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	79.3	0.0	+0.6
21	🇰🇷 South Korea	79.1	+17.1	+3.2
22	🇦🇹 Austria	78.2	+0.2	−2.0
23	🇮🇸 Iceland	77.9	+0.3	−0.8
24	🇬🇷 Greece	77.5	−0.1	−3.0
25	🇸🇮 Slovenia	77.2	−2.3	+3.4
26	🇨🇦 Canada	76.9	+0.7	+1.0
27	🇪🇸 Spain	75.7	−0.9	−5.1
28	🇱🇹 Lithuania	75.3	−1.9	−0.9
29	🇺🇸 United States of America	74.9	−8.1	−9.1
30	🇯🇵 Japan	74.4	+0.4	−2.9
31	🇱🇻 Latvia	74.4	−0.4	+5.9
32	🇹🇼 Taiwan	73.7	+1.0	+5.8
33	🇨🇾 Cyprus	73.1	−0.8	+0.7
34	🇨🇿 Czechia	72.6	−3.7	−9.8
35	🇸🇰 Slovakia	72.0	−0.6	−1.6
36	🇨🇻 Cape Verde	70.7	−0.6	+1.1
37	🇯🇲 Jamaica	69.6	+1.1	+5.2
38	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	68.2	+2.1	+16.8
39	🇵🇪 Peru	67.7	+0.4	+3.0
40	🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago	67.6	0.0	+1.0
41	🇧🇧 Barbados	66.0	−0.2	+1.0
42	🇧🇷 Brazil	64.1	−1.2	−12.8
43	🇹🇳 Tunisia	63.2	+0.6	+53.7
44	🇮🇱 Israel	63.2	−1.4	−5.2
45	🇬🇭 Ghana	62.8	+1.8	−0.8
46	🇸🇷 Suriname	62.6	+0.4	−1.9
47	🇿🇦 South Africa	62.6	−1.9	−3.6
48	🇭🇷 Croatia	62.3	−2.8	−1.9
49	🇲🇺 Mauritius	62.2	+0.2	−2.3
50	🇦🇷 Argentina	60.9	−0.3	−0.1
51	🇧🇯 Benin	59.3	+1.4	+6.9
52	🇳🇦 Namibia	57.7	−0.7	+3.3
53	🇧🇼 Botswana	56.8	−1.4	−5.5
54	🇲🇹 Malta	55.8	−1.4	−3.8
55	🇸🇳 Senegal	55.6	−2.2	+3.3
56	🇳🇵 Nepal	55.3	−0.4	+27.6
57	🇵🇦 Panama	55.3	+0.3	+0.6
58	🇨🇴 Colombia	54.8	+0.1	+8.7
59	🇲🇳 Mongolia	54.4	−0.4	−2.2
60	🇵🇱 Poland	54.2	−5.6	−26.1
61	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	53.7	−1.1	+1.0
62	🇷🇴 Romania	53.2	−9.8	+4.8
63	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	52.1	−4.0	−9.0
64	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	51.1	+0.7	+17.6
65	🇸🇨 Seychelles	50.9	+1.8	+14.1
66	🇬🇪 Georgia	49.8	−2.0	+12.9
67	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	48.9	+2.9	+3.5
68	🇮🇩 Indonesia	48.4	−1.2	−5.3
69	🇧🇹 Bhutan	48.0	+0.9	+31.1
70	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	47.7	+1.1	+4.3
71	🇸🇻 El Salvador	46.5	+0.4	+11.4
72	🇱🇷 Liberia	45.9	+0.7	−4.7
73	🇲🇼 Malawi	45.7	+1.5	+9.2
74	🇬🇾 Guyana	45.7	+0.1	+9.1
75	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	44.8	−0.2	+20.8
76	🇬🇹 Guatemala	44.4	−0.7	+5.8
77	🇲🇽 Mexico	44.0	+0.6	−1.4
78	🇦🇱 Albania	43.7	+0.1	−0.9
79	🇭🇺 Hungary	43.2	−4.2	−33.3
80	🇳🇪 Niger	42.6	−3.3	−0.1
81	🇵🇾 Paraguay	41.8	+0.4	−2.8
82	🇰🇪 Kenya	40.8	−1.3	+5.2
83	🇽🇰 Kosovo	39.9	−5.5	+2.9
84	🇲🇩 Moldova	39.4	−3.9	+4.8
85	🇳🇬 Nigeria	39.3	−0.2	+9.6
86	🇬🇲 The Gambia	39.3	+28.3	+28.1
87	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	37.6	+9.7	−6.2
88	🇲🇪 Montenegro	37.5	−0.8	−1.7
89	🇱🇸 Lesotho	37.2	−5.2	−4.7
90	🇮🇳 India	37.1	−3.5	−19.8
91	🇧🇴 Bolivia	36.0	−1.5	−9.8
92	🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina	35.5	−0.3	−1.4
93	🇹🇿 Tanzania	35.1	−0.4	−4.2
94	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	34.6	+3.2	0.0
95	🇸🇬 Singapore	34.5	+0.8	+3.4
96	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	34.4	−0.2	−5.2
97	🇪🇨 Ecuador	33.8	+7.4	−6.9
98	🇲🇱 Mali	32.8	−2.1	−8.5
99	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	32.8	−0.5	−4.8
100	🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	32.6	−0.9	+4.3
101	🇵🇭 Philippines	32.1	−2.5	−2.5
102	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	30.3	0.0	+12.2
103	🇱🇧 Lebanon	29.4	−0.2	+3.6
104	🇿🇲 Zambia	29.4	−3.4	−12.6
105	🇷🇸 Serbia	29.0	−3.1	−23.7
106	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	28.9	−0.5	−3.5
107	🇰🇼 Kuwait	28.8	+0.7	+0.2
108	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	28.6	−0.3	+2.7
109	🇫🇯 Fiji	28.3	+0.8	+17.8
110	🇲🇿 Mozambique	27.5	−1.7	−3.8
111	🇲🇬 Madagascar	26.0	+0.2	−1.4
112	🇵🇰 Pakistan	25.7	−0.1	+7.2
113	Somaliland	25.4	+0.2	+1.5
114	🇭🇹 Haiti	25.1	−0.4	−4.8
115	🇭🇳 Honduras	24.4	−1.0	−7.1
116	🇲🇦 Morocco	24.1	+1.0	+1.4
117	🇺🇦 Ukraine	24.0	0.0	−16.0
118	🇹🇬 Togo	23.9	−2.1	+4.5
119	🇮🇶 Iraq	23.3	−0.5	−2.8
120	🇬🇦 Gabon	23.3	+0.9	+2.9
121	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	23.1	0.0	+4.0
122	🇯🇴 Jordan	23.0	+3.5	+2.6
123	🇲🇲 Burma/Myanmar	22.9	+0.3	+21.2
124	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	22.5	+2.2	+7.3
125	🇦🇲 Armenia	21.9	+1.5	+3.1
126	Zanzibar	21.8	+0.9	−1.0
127	🇲🇾 Malaysia	20.6	+0.4	−0.4
128	🇺🇬 Uganda	20.1	−0.4	−4.5
129	🇰🇲 Comoros	19.4	−4.5	−4.1
130	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	18.3	−0.5	−1.0
131	🇲🇻 Maldives	17.8	−0.4	+5.0
132	🇵🇸 Palestine/West Bank	17.1	+0.9	−1.0
133	🇱🇾 Libya	16.7	−0.3	+12.2
134	🇬🇳 Guinea	16.1	−0.5	+3.8
135	🇩🇿 Algeria	16.0	−0.5	−0.6
136	🇲🇷 Mauritania	15.7	−2.1	−8.0
137	🇴🇲 Oman	14.0	−0.1	+1.5
138	🇦🇴 Angola	13.9	+1.6	+5.1
139	🇮🇷 Iran	13.4	−0.3	+0.7
140	🇨🇲 Cameroon	13.1	−0.8	−2.2
141	🇸🇴 Somalia	12.3	+1.3	+2.8
142	🇷🇼 Rwanda	11.6	−1.2	−0.7
143	🇻🇳 Vietnam	11.5	−0.2	+1.0
144	🇪🇬 Egypt	11.3	−0.9	−3.9
145	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	11.2	−0.2	−1.0
146	🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo	11.0	−0.9	−3.9
147	🇩🇯 Djibouti	11.0	−0.4	−0.5
148	🇷🇺 Russia	10.7	+0.1	−3.9
149	🇧🇾 Belarus	10.7	0.0	+1.2
150	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	10.6	0.0	+0.3
151	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	10.3	−1.7	−11.3
152	🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	10.3	+0.2	+0.7
153	🇹🇭 Thailand	10.2	−0.3	−7.8
154	🇹🇷 Türkiye	10.1	−4.2	−36.0
155	🇸🇿 Eswatini	9.9	+0.2	+0.4
156	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	9.8	−0.1	−1.5
157	🇱🇦 Laos	9.3	+0.5	+0.5
158	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	9.1	0.0	+1.1
159	🇶🇦 Qatar	8.5	−0.4	−1.2
160	🇹🇩 Chad	8.4	−0.8	−1.0
161	🇻🇪 Venezuela	8.2	−3.6	−8.0
162	🇰🇭 Cambodia	7.8	−2.5	−4.5
163	🇸🇩 Sudan	7.4	+1.0	+1.1
164	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	6.7	+0.5	−0.4
165	🇸🇸 South Sudan	5.9	+0.6	—
166	Palestine/Gaza	5.9	−0.4	−3.0
167	🇨🇺 Cuba	5.8	+0.3	+1.7
168	🇨🇳 China	5.2	0.0	−0.5
169	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	5.2	+1.5	+1.9
170	🇧🇭 Bahrain	5.0	−0.1	−4.1
171	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	4.9	−0.2	−0.4
172	🇧🇮 Burundi	4.5	−0.1	−13.8
173	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	4.3	−0.1	0.0
174	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	4.0	+0.1	−2.8
175	🇾🇪 Yemen	3.6	−0.1	−11.7
176	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	2.7	+0.2	+0.4
177	🇸🇾 Syria	2.5	0.0	−2.5
178	🇰🇵 North Korea	1.4	0.0	0.0
179	🇪🇷 Eritrea	0.7	+0.1	+0.1

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 2017, with the highest score of 89.1 on a 0–100 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 2017?

In 2017, the top three of 179 ranked countries are Denmark (89.1), Sweden (88.0), and Estonia (86.1).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 2017?

Eritrea ranks #179 of 179 with a score of 0.7.

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

Tunisia shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 53.7 points over the past decade, standing at 63.2 (rank #43) in 2017.

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 2017 edition covers 179 countries.