Mapped: Democracy Around the World in 2025
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Key Takeaways
- Europe is the region with the most democratic countries in the world, with nine of the top 10 highest-scoring nations residing there.
- The United States scores 7.85, which is the 28th highest democracy rating in the world.
- Venezuela has the lowest score in South America at 2.25, well below the continent’s average rating of 6.01.
Most countries have incredibly stable political regimes that don’t experience significant year-to-year change.
In Venezuela, however, citizens woke up on January 3, 2026 to a completely different reality: Nicolás Maduro was no longer the de facto president of the country for the first time since 2013.
Today’s map (and the interactive version below) visualizes data from the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, published in 2025.
Interactive Version
Firstly, here’s an interactive version of the map above to play with:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu
You can change the year shown all the way back to 2006, or switch to table or line chart views to view series in a different way.
The Data on Democracy
Below are the world’s countries ranked based on their latest democracy score.
| Rank | Country or Entity | Democracy Score | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | 9.81 | Europe |
| 2 | New Zealand | 9.61 | Oceania |
| 3 | Sweden | 9.39 | Europe |
| 4 | Iceland | 9.38 | Europe |
| 5 | Switzerland | 9.32 | Europe |
| 6 | Finland | 9.30 | Europe |
| 7 | Denmark | 9.28 | Europe |
| 8 | Ireland | 9.19 | Europe |
| 9 | Netherlands | 9.00 | Europe |
| 10 | Luxembourg | 8.88 | Europe |
| 11 | Australia | 8.85 | Oceania |
| 12 | Taiwan | 8.78 | Asia |
| 13 | Germany | 8.73 | Europe |
| 14 | Canada | 8.69 | North America |
| 15 | Uruguay | 8.67 | South America |
| 16 | Japan | 8.48 | Asia |
| 17 | United Kingdom | 8.34 | Europe |
| 18 | Costa Rica | 8.29 | North America |
| 19 | Austria | 8.28 | Europe |
| 20 | Mauritius | 8.23 | Africa |
| 21 | Estonia | 8.13 | Europe |
| 22 | Spain | 8.13 | Europe |
| 23 | Czechia | 8.08 | Europe |
| 24 | Portugal | 8.08 | Europe |
| 25 | Greece | 8.07 | Europe |
| 26 | France | 7.99 | Europe |
| 27 | Malta | 7.93 | Europe |
| 28 | United States | 7.85 | North America |
| 29 | Chile | 7.83 | South America |
| 30 | Slovenia | 7.82 | Europe |
| 31 | Israel | 7.80 | Asia |
| 32 | South Korea | 7.75 | Asia |
| 33 | Latvia | 7.66 | Europe |
| 34 | Belgium | 7.64 | Europe |
| 35 | Botswana | 7.63 | Africa |
| 36 | Lithuania | 7.59 | Europe |
| 37 | Cape Verde | 7.58 | Africa |
| 38 | Italy | 7.58 | Europe |
| 39 | Poland | 7.40 | Europe |
| 40 | Cyprus | 7.38 | Europe |
| 41 | India | 7.29 | Asia |
| 42 | Slovakia | 7.21 | Europe |
| 43 | South Africa | 7.16 | Africa |
| 44 | Malaysia | 7.11 | Asia |
| 45 | Trinidad and Tobago | 7.09 | North America |
| 46 | East Timor | 7.03 | Asia |
| 47 | Panama | 6.84 | North America |
| 48 | Suriname | 6.79 | South America |
| 49 | Jamaica | 6.74 | North America |
| 50 | Montenegro | 6.73 | Europe |
| 51 | Philippines | 6.63 | Asia |
| 52 | Dominican Republic | 6.62 | North America |
| 53 | Mongolia | 6.53 | Asia |
| 54 | Argentina | 6.51 | South America |
| 55 | Hungary | 6.51 | Europe |
| 56 | Croatia | 6.50 | Europe |
| 57 | Brazil | 6.49 | South America |
| 58 | Namibia | 6.48 | Africa |
| 59 | Indonesia | 6.44 | Asia |
| 60 | Colombia | 6.35 | South America |
| 61 | Bulgaria | 6.34 | Europe |
| 62 | North Macedonia | 6.28 | Europe |
| 63 | Thailand | 6.27 | Asia |
| 64 | Serbia | 6.26 | Europe |
| 65 | Ghana | 6.24 | Africa |
| 66 | Albania | 6.20 | Europe |
| 67 | Sri Lanka | 6.19 | Asia |
| 68 | Singapore | 6.18 | Asia |
| 69 | Guyana | 6.11 | South America |
| 70 | Lesotho | 6.06 | Africa |
| 71 | Moldova | 6.04 | Europe |
| 72 | Romania | 5.99 | Europe |
| 73 | Papua New Guinea | 5.97 | Oceania |
| 74 | Senegal | 5.93 | Africa |
| 75 | Paraguay | 5.92 | South America |
| 76 | Malawi | 5.85 | Africa |
| 77 | Zambia | 5.73 | Africa |
| 78 | Peru | 5.69 | South America |
| 79 | Bhutan | 5.65 | Asia |
| 80 | Liberia | 5.57 | Africa |
| 81 | Fiji | 5.39 | Oceania |
| 82 | Armenia | 5.35 | Asia |
| 83 | Madagascar | 5.33 | Africa |
| 84 | Mexico | 5.32 | North America |
| 85 | Ecuador | 5.24 | South America |
| 86 | Tanzania | 5.20 | Africa |
| 87 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5.06 | Europe |
| 88 | Kenya | 5.05 | Africa |
| 89 | Honduras | 4.98 | North America |
| 90 | Morocco | 4.97 | Africa |
| 91 | Ukraine | 4.90 | Europe |
| 92 | Tunisia | 4.71 | Africa |
| 93 | Georgia | 4.70 | Asia |
| 94 | El Salvador | 4.61 | North America |
| 95 | Nepal | 4.60 | Asia |
| 96 | Guatemala | 4.55 | North America |
| 97 | Uganda | 4.49 | Africa |
| 98 | Gambia | 4.47 | Africa |
| 99 | Bangladesh | 4.44 | Asia |
| 100 | Benin | 4.44 | Africa |
| 101 | Sierra Leone | 4.32 | Africa |
| 102 | Bolivia | 4.26 | South America |
| 103 | Turkey | 4.26 | Asia |
| 104 | Cote d'Ivoire | 4.22 | Africa |
| 105 | Nigeria | 4.16 | Africa |
| 106 | Angola | 4.05 | Africa |
| 107 | Mauritania | 3.96 | Africa |
| 108 | Lebanon | 3.56 | Asia |
| 109 | Algeria | 3.55 | Africa |
| 110 | Kyrgyzstan | 3.52 | Asia |
| 111 | Palestine | 3.44 | Asia |
| 112 | Mozambique | 3.38 | Africa |
| 113 | Rwanda | 3.34 | Africa |
| 114 | Jordan | 3.28 | Asia |
| 115 | Ethiopia | 3.24 | Africa |
| 116 | Qatar | 3.17 | Asia |
| 117 | Kazakhstan | 3.08 | Asia |
| 118 | United Arab Emirates | 3.07 | Asia |
| 119 | Oman | 3.05 | Asia |
| 120 | Togo | 2.99 | Africa |
| 121 | Zimbabwe | 2.98 | Africa |
| 122 | Cambodia | 2.94 | Asia |
| 123 | Comoros | 2.84 | Africa |
| 124 | Pakistan | 2.84 | Asia |
| 125 | Azerbaijan | 2.80 | Asia |
| 126 | Iraq | 2.80 | Asia |
| 127 | Congo | 2.79 | Africa |
| 128 | Egypt | 2.79 | Africa |
| 129 | Kuwait | 2.78 | Asia |
| 130 | Haiti | 2.74 | North America |
| 131 | Djibouti | 2.70 | Africa |
| 132 | Vietnam | 2.62 | Asia |
| 133 | Eswatini | 2.60 | Africa |
| 134 | Cuba | 2.58 | North America |
| 135 | Cameroon | 2.56 | Africa |
| 136 | Burkina Faso | 2.55 | Africa |
| 137 | Bahrain | 2.45 | Asia |
| 138 | Mali | 2.40 | Africa |
| 139 | Libya | 2.31 | Africa |
| 140 | Niger | 2.26 | Africa |
| 141 | Venezuela | 2.25 | South America |
| 142 | Gabon | 2.18 | Africa |
| 143 | Burundi | 2.13 | Africa |
| 144 | China | 2.11 | Asia |
| 145 | Uzbekistan | 2.10 | Asia |
| 146 | Nicaragua | 2.09 | North America |
| 147 | Saudi Arabia | 2.08 | Asia |
| 148 | Guinea | 2.04 | Africa |
| 149 | Guinea-Bissau | 2.03 | Africa |
| 150 | Russia | 2.03 | Europe |
| 151 | Belarus | 1.99 | Europe |
| 152 | Eritrea | 1.97 | Africa |
| 153 | Iran | 1.96 | Asia |
| 154 | Yemen | 1.95 | Asia |
| 155 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 1.92 | Africa |
| 156 | Equatorial Guinea | 1.92 | Africa |
| 157 | Chad | 1.89 | Africa |
| 158 | Tajikistan | 1.83 | Asia |
| 159 | Laos | 1.71 | Asia |
| 160 | Turkmenistan | 1.66 | Asia |
| 161 | Sudan | 1.46 | Africa |
| 162 | Syria | 1.32 | Asia |
| 163 | Central African Republic | 1.18 | Africa |
| 164 | North Korea | 1.08 | Asia |
| 165 | Myanmar | 0.96 | Asia |
| 166 | Afghanistan | 0.25 | Asia |
| -- | World Average | 5.17 | -- |
Norway leads with a score of 9.81, and other Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark) also score well. In fact, nine of the top 10 countries are all European.
Meanwhile, the highest scoring country in the Americas is Canada with a Democracy Index score of 8.69 (Rank: 14th) while the U.S. comes in with 7.85 (Rank: 28th).
Venezuela’s Democracy Ranking
The Maduro regime in Venezuela has steadily fallen in the rankings since he took power in 2013 from Hugo Chávez.
| Year | Country | Democracy Score | Change from Prev Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Venezuela | 5.07 | -0.08 |
| 2014 | Venezuela | 5.07 | 0.00 |
| 2015 | Venezuela | 5.00 | -0.07 |
| 2016 | Venezuela | 4.68 | -0.32 |
| 2017 | Venezuela | 3.87 | -0.81 |
| 2018 | Venezuela | 3.16 | -0.71 |
| 2019 | Venezuela | 2.88 | -0.28 |
| 2020 | Venezuela | 2.76 | -0.12 |
| 2021 | Venezuela | 2.21 | -0.55 |
| 2022 | Venezuela | 2.23 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | Venezuela | 2.31 | 0.08 |
| 2024 | Venezuela | 2.25 | -0.06 |
| 2013-2024 | Total Change | -2.82 | -- |
Why did Venezuela fall so swiftly in global democracy rankings?
As Nicolás Maduro consolidated power, Venezuela saw an erosion of checks and balances and weakening of electoral integrity.
Elections have been widely criticized for lacking fairness, transparency, and meaningful opposition participation. The government has curtailed judicial independence, sidelined the National Assembly, and ruled increasingly by decree.
Finally, media freedom has sharply declined through censorship, shutdowns, and intimidation. Civil liberties have been undermined by repression of protests, arbitrary detentions, and political persecution.
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