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๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฒ The Gambia: Politics & Democracy

Broadly yes โ€” The Gambia scores 52.2 on the V-Dem liberal democracy index (0โ€“100 scale), placing it among functioning democracies, though with weaker liberal safeguards than the top-ranked states.

Liberal democracy rank (2025)

#58 of 179

Score (0โ€“100)

52.2

10-year change

+41.6

Full rankings โ†’

Current leaders

Adama Barrow

Head of State ยท National People's Party

since 2017-01-21

Democracy trend

05010019002025
The Gambia โ€” V-Dem liberal democracy index, 1900โ€“2025 (0โ€“100 scale). Latest: 52.2 in 2025.

Upcoming elections

2026 Gambian presidential election

2026-12-05T00:00:00Z

2027 Gambian parliamentary election

2027-01-01T00:00:00Z

Voting alignment

The Gambia's closest UN General Assembly voting partners since 1946:

Frequently asked questions

Is The Gambia a democracy?

Broadly yes โ€” The Gambia scores 52.2 on the V-Dem liberal democracy index (0โ€“100 scale), placing it among functioning democracies, though with weaker liberal safeguards than the top-ranked states. It ranks #58 of 179 countries in 2025.

Is democracy in The Gambia improving or declining?

The Gambia's V-Dem liberal democracy score has improved by 41.6 points over the past decade, standing at 52.2 in 2025 (1-year change: +1.2).

Who leads The Gambia?

Adama Barrow is The Gambia's head of state (National People's Party).

When is the next election in The Gambia?

2026 Gambian presidential election is scheduled for 2026-12-05T00:00:00Z.

More on The Gambia

Data source: Coppedge, Michael et al. 'V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15', Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, https://www.v-dem.net, CC BY 4.0.