Data for 2019

Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2019

Name: Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2019
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2019, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

V-Dem's measure of government cyber-security capacity asks whether a state has the skilled staff and resources to protect itself against cyber attacks, from none at all to attacks by highly skilled actors. It is an expert-coded estimate on an open-ended scale centred near zero, and a higher figure means more capacity.

Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2019 covers 176 countries. Israel is highest, at 3.497; Liberia is lowest, at -2.660. The middle country reads 0.097. Against 2018, 75 values changed (43 up, 32 down), the same countries are covered.

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Government Cyber Security Capacity · Data for 2019

HighestIsrael

3.497

LowestLiberia

-2.660

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

176countries
1measure
2019the year it describes
172distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2019, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2019: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	3.497
2	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	3.076
3	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	2.819
4	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	2.771
5	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	2.741
6	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	2.689
7	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	2.570
8	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	2.537
9	Canada`CAN`Northern America	2.351
10	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.231
11	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2.020
12	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.960
13	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	1.928
14	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	1.907
15	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.832
16	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.829
17	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	1.828
18	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	1.778
19	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.746
20	United States`USA`Northern America	1.653
21	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	1.633
22	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.572
23	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.553
24	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.550
25	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.477
26	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.418
=27	Chile`CHL`South America	1.417
=27	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.417
29	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.375
30	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	1.297
31	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1.287
32	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	1.277
33	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	1.190
34	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	1.114
35	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.104
36	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	1.014
37	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.990
38	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.982
39	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.978
40	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.973
41	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.959
42	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.939
43	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.938
44	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.933
45	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.924
46	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.903
47	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.833
48	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.831
49	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.811
50	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.797
51	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.768
52	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.744
53	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.722
54	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.710
55	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.706
56	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.698
57	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.676
58	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.639
59	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.572
60	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.558
61	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.555
62	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.538
63	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.536
64	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.534
65	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.533
66	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.521
67	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.476
68	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.472
69	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.469
70	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.458
71	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.439
72	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.432
73	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.392
74	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.388
=75	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.350
=75	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.350
77	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.325
78	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.253
79	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.235
80	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.206
81	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.190
82	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.189
=83	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.127
=83	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.127
85	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.114
86	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.104
87	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.099
88	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.097
89	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.096
90	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.080
91	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.059
92	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.021
93	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.039
94	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	-0.072
95	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	-0.082
96	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	-0.089
97	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	-0.098
98	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	-0.101
99	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	-0.104
100	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-0.136
101	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	-0.193
102	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.196
103	Honduras`HND`Central America	-0.239
104	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	-0.322
105	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-0.340
106	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	-0.386
107	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	-0.393
108	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	-0.401
109	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	-0.413
110	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-0.439
111	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-0.499
112	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.553
113	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	-0.583
114	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	-0.603
115	Suriname`SUR`South America	-0.676
116	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-0.677
117	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	-0.702
118	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	-0.719
119	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	-0.721
120	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-0.726
=121	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	-0.786
=121	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.786
123	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	-0.790
124	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	-0.805
125	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	-0.809
126	Bolivia`BOL`South America	-0.817
127	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-0.821
128	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.823
129	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	-0.846
130	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.850
131	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-0.874
132	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	-0.878
133	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	-0.905
134	Peru`PER`South America	-0.924
135	Colombia`COL`South America	-0.926
136	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-0.936
137	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-0.989
138	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-1.031
139	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	-1.171
140	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-1.198
141	Paraguay`PRY`South America	-1.226
142	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-1.306
143	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	-1.313
144	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-1.315
145	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	-1.339
146	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-1.351
147	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	-1.362
148	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-1.370
149	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-1.374
150	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	-1.385
151	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-1.389
152	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	-1.426
153	Niger`NER`Western Africa	-1.428
154	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	-1.436
155	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-1.507
156	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	-1.529
157	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-1.574
158	Guyana`GUY`South America	-1.625
159	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.629
160	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-1.632
161	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	-1.646
162	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	-1.647
163	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-1.774
164	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-1.783
165	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-1.814
166	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	-1.928
167	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-1.942
168	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-2.007
169	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	-2.008
170	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-2.065
171	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-2.081
172	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-2.109
173	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-2.122
174	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	-2.548
175	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-2.576
176	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-2.660

02In 2019

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Israel3.497
2Estonia3.076
3Russia2.819
4North Korea2.771
5Malaysia2.741

Lowest

176Liberia-2.660
175Guinea-2.576
174Solomon Islands-2.548
173Guinea-Bissau-2.122
172Haiti-2.109

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.097. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032018 → 2019

Since 2018

+0 / −0countries joined / left
75values changed, of 176 in both
43 · 32rose · fell
101unchanged

Rose most

Iceland-1.034 → 1.572+2.606
Honduras-1.489 → -0.239+1.250
Gabon-0.653 → 0.097+0.750
Chad-1.457 → -0.823+0.634
Sierra Leone-1.991 → -1.389+0.602

Fell most

Australia1.487 → 0.572−0.915
Republic of the Congo-0.747 → -1.632−0.885
Somaliland-1.170 → -1.928−0.758
Seychelles-0.166 → -0.790−0.624
Bahrain0.795 → 0.235−0.560

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2019.
172 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 1.417. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 176 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
176 rows · 4.9 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download cyber-security-capacity-2019-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-FullOthers-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2019). Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2019 [data set], describing 2019. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/cyber-security-capacity/2019

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2018
176 countries
The year after ›
Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2020
176 countries
All of them
Government Cyber Security Capacity: every year
26 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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