Democracy Index 2018

V-Dem liberal democracy rankings as they stood in 2018 — 179 countries scored 0–1, with changes versus one and ten years earlier.

Rank	Country	Score	1y change	10y change
1	Denmark	0.893	±0.000	−0.004
2	Sweden	0.878	−0.006	−0.003
3	Switzerland	0.867	±0.000	+0.015
4	Estonia	0.862	+0.001	+0.049
5	Portugal	0.849	+0.002	+0.010
6	Finland	0.846	+0.007	+0.003
7	Norway	0.845	−0.015	−0.019
8	Uruguay	0.839	+0.013	+0.014
9	Belgium	0.837	±0.000	−0.007
10	Costa Rica	0.836	−0.016	−0.019
11	New Zealand	0.835	+0.006	+0.006
12	Germany	0.834	−0.009	−0.035
13	Netherlands	0.831	−0.004	+0.009
14	Ireland	0.825	+0.003	−0.003
15	Australia	0.813	−0.012	−0.037
16	United Kingdom	0.809	+0.005	+0.004
17	Chile	0.805	−0.037	−0.036
18	South Korea	0.797	+0.002	+0.127
19	France	0.797	−0.018	−0.017
20	Iceland	0.795	+0.013	+0.001
21	Luxembourg	0.795	±0.000	+0.004
22	Italy	0.788	−0.007	+0.018
23	Austria	0.784	−0.001	−0.025
24	Spain	0.776	+0.020	−0.041
25	Greece	0.770	−0.005	−0.043
26	Canada	0.765	−0.004	+0.003
27	Japan	0.760	+0.013	−0.021
28	Slovenia	0.758	−0.015	+0.017
29	Lithuania	0.750	+0.001	−0.015
30	Latvia	0.745	−0.001	+0.061
31	United States of America	0.742	−0.003	−0.100
32	Taiwan	0.734	+0.002	+0.048
33	Cyprus	0.723	−0.010	−0.003
34	Czechia	0.717	−0.024	−0.113
35	Slovakia	0.706	−0.020	−0.029
36	Cape Verde	0.700	−0.006	−0.003
37	Peru	0.699	+0.022	+0.047
38	Jamaica	0.693	−0.011	+0.037
39	Vanuatu	0.670	−0.002	+0.126
40	Barbados	0.655	±0.000	−0.014
41	South Africa	0.639	+0.012	−0.009
42	Argentina	0.637	+0.025	+0.044
43	Ghana	0.632	−0.004	−0.007
44	Israel	0.632	−0.005	−0.056
45	Tunisia	0.631	−0.001	+0.535
46	Mauritius	0.629	+0.011	−0.012
47	Trinidad and Tobago	0.628	−0.006	−0.018
48	Suriname	0.622	−0.010	−0.036
49	Brazil	0.617	−0.030	−0.156
50	Croatia	0.617	−0.008	−0.024
51	Botswana	0.577	+0.010	−0.035
52	Namibia	0.564	−0.011	+0.020
53	Malta	0.563	−0.006	−0.062
54	Senegal	0.542	−0.013	+0.026
55	Sao Tome and Principe	0.542	−0.012	+0.005
56	Panama	0.539	−0.013	−0.016
57	Colombia	0.538	−0.016	+0.070
58	Mongolia	0.536	−0.004	±0.000
59	Poland	0.523	−0.021	−0.308
60	Georgia	0.520	+0.017	+0.178
61	Nepal	0.518	−0.033	+0.111
62	Seychelles	0.517	+0.008	+0.147
63	Bulgaria	0.514	−0.012	−0.104
64	Timor-Leste	0.507	+0.018	+0.032
65	Bhutan	0.498	+0.013	+0.058
66	Burkina Faso	0.491	−0.020	+0.152
67	Romania	0.483	−0.043	−0.015
68	Sri Lanka	0.479	+0.037	+0.243
69	Benin	0.478	−0.120	−0.044
70	Kosovo	0.471	+0.068	+0.108
71	Solomon Islands	0.465	+0.001	+0.043
72	Indonesia	0.464	−0.022	−0.082
73	Ecuador	0.460	+0.118	+0.109
74	Guyana	0.457	+0.003	+0.088
75	Mexico	0.455	+0.016	±0.000
76	Lesotho	0.447	+0.072	+0.026
77	Malawi	0.443	−0.011	+0.074
78	Albania	0.432	−0.008	−0.022
79	El Salvador	0.432	−0.037	+0.077
80	Liberia	0.429	−0.031	−0.082
81	The Gambia	0.417	+0.027	+0.303
82	Paraguay	0.416	±0.000	−0.075
83	Guatemala	0.415	−0.044	+0.010
84	Armenia	0.404	+0.183	+0.231
85	Niger	0.403	−0.021	−0.019
86	Moldova	0.393	−0.004	+0.051
87	Kenya	0.391	−0.015	+0.091
88	North Macedonia	0.390	+0.007	−0.023
89	Nigeria	0.388	+0.001	+0.087
90	Sierra Leone	0.376	+0.039	+0.054
91	Hungary	0.373	−0.062	−0.394
92	India	0.360	−0.006	−0.211
93	Montenegro	0.360	+0.001	−0.035
94	Papua New Guinea	0.349	+0.009	−0.019
95	Ivory Coast	0.348	+0.006	+0.049
96	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.347	−0.017	−0.028
97	Bolivia	0.345	−0.021	−0.111
98	Singapore	0.333	−0.007	+0.023
99	Tanzania	0.332	−0.014	−0.063
100	Kyrgyzstan	0.325	+0.024	+0.165
101	Guinea-Bissau	0.322	+0.018	+0.084
102	Philippines	0.316	−0.026	−0.039
103	Malaysia	0.315	+0.106	+0.097
104	Mali	0.305	−0.021	−0.103
105	Zambia	0.294	+0.001	−0.128
106	Kuwait	0.293	−0.003	±0.000
107	Lebanon	0.290	−0.012	+0.026
108	Dominican Republic	0.286	+0.006	−0.056
109	Fiji	0.285	−0.002	+0.178
110	Serbia	0.284	−0.008	−0.249
111	Madagascar	0.275	+0.022	+0.004
112	Hong Kong	0.274	−0.008	−0.047
113	Mozambique	0.261	−0.008	−0.046
114	Iraq	0.256	+0.007	−0.026
115	Pakistan	0.254	−0.003	+0.026
116	Somaliland	0.249	−0.004	+0.004
117	Central African Republic	0.245	+0.014	+0.054
118	Ukraine	0.245	+0.005	−0.147
119	Jordan	0.242	+0.005	+0.035
120	Morocco	0.242	+0.002	+0.016
121	Haiti	0.240	+0.005	−0.043
122	Burma/Myanmar	0.239	+0.005	+0.221
123	Honduras	0.232	−0.009	−0.087
124	Zanzibar	0.223	+0.005	−0.008
125	Togo	0.222	−0.022	−0.013
126	Uganda	0.221	−0.002	−0.042
127	Gabon	0.214	−0.020	+0.009
128	Zimbabwe	0.211	−0.010	+0.064
129	Maldives	0.192	+0.017	−0.051
130	Afghanistan	0.179	−0.008	−0.023
131	Palestine/West Bank	0.177	+0.007	+0.037
132	Comoros	0.171	−0.023	−0.086
133	Mauritania	0.169	+0.011	−0.036
134	Angola	0.162	+0.020	+0.069
135	Algeria	0.156	+0.001	−0.002
136	Guinea	0.151	−0.009	+0.057
137	Libya	0.150	−0.014	+0.109
138	Oman	0.142	±0.000	+0.013
139	Ethiopia	0.132	+0.033	+0.020
140	Cameroon	0.127	−0.009	−0.027
141	Iran	0.124	−0.002	+0.008
142	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.122	+0.004	−0.030
143	Vietnam	0.116	−0.002	+0.005
144	Rwanda	0.116	+0.002	−0.008
145	Thailand	0.115	+0.010	−0.225
146	Djibouti	0.114	+0.003	±0.000
147	Egypt	0.113	−0.003	−0.044
148	Republic of the Congo	0.113	+0.008	+0.015
149	Belarus	0.112	+0.003	+0.015
150	Eswatini	0.112	+0.015	+0.016
151	Türkiye	0.109	+0.005	−0.307
152	Kazakhstan	0.109	−0.004	−0.015
153	Somalia	0.106	−0.018	+0.012
154	Russia	0.104	−0.002	−0.033
155	Bangladesh	0.100	−0.007	−0.005
156	United Arab Emirates	0.093	+0.002	+0.012
157	Qatar	0.091	+0.003	−0.007
158	Chad	0.079	−0.006	−0.016
159	Laos	0.078	−0.003	+0.004
160	Cambodia	0.072	−0.007	−0.048
161	Sudan	0.068	−0.007	+0.004
162	Uzbekistan	0.066	+0.014	+0.032
163	Venezuela	0.064	−0.018	−0.098
164	Cuba	0.060	+0.002	+0.021
165	Azerbaijan	0.059	−0.008	−0.013
166	Equatorial Guinea	0.052	+0.002	−0.001
167	South Sudan	0.051	−0.008	—
168	Nicaragua	0.051	−0.052	−0.153
169	Tajikistan	0.049	+0.006	−0.023
170	China	0.048	±0.000	−0.007
171	Burundi	0.044	−0.003	−0.132
172	Bahrain	0.043	+0.001	−0.044
173	Saudi Arabia	0.043	−0.001	−0.001
174	Palestine/Gaza	0.039	−0.017	−0.051
175	Yemen	0.034	−0.001	−0.117
176	Turkmenistan	0.030	+0.003	+0.005
177	Syria	0.026	−0.001	−0.024
178	North Korea	0.014	±0.000	±0.000
179	Eritrea	0.007	±0.000	+0.002

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 2018, with the highest score of 0.893 on a 0–1 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for liberal democracy index in 2018?

In 2018, the top three of 179 ranked countries are Denmark (0.893), Sweden (0.878), and Switzerland (0.867).

Which country ranks last on liberal democracy index in 2018?

Eritrea ranks #179 of 179 with a score of 0.007.

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

Tunisia shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 0.535 points over the past decade, standing at 0.631 (rank #45) in 2018.

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 2018 edition covers 179 countries.