Data for 2021

Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2021

Name: Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2021
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2021, 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, 2021 covers 176 countries. Israel is highest, at 3.497; Solomon Islands is lowest, at -3.044. The middle country reads 0.121. Against 2020, 82 values changed (57 up, 25 down), the same countries are covered.

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Government Cyber Security Capacity · Data for 2021

HighestIsrael

3.497

LowestSolomon Islands

-3.044

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
173distinct 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, 2021, 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, 2021: 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	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	2.923
4	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	2.819
5	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	2.771
6	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	2.689
7	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	2.537
8	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	2.355
9	Canada`CAN`Northern America	2.351
10	United States`USA`Northern America	2.254
11	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.231
12	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	2.126
13	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2.033
14	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	2.013
15	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.960
16	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.956
17	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	1.894
18	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1.832
19	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	1.828
20	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	1.802
21	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	1.794
22	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.746
23	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	1.641
24	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	1.633
25	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.629
26	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	1.560
27	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.550
28	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.513
29	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.508
30	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.507
31	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.499
32	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	1.457
33	Chile`CHL`South America	1.387
34	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	1.364
35	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	1.271
36	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.194
37	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.178
38	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	1.155
39	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	1.153
40	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.104
41	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	1.077
42	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.072
43	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	1.054
44	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	1.046
45	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.980
46	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.933
47	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.907
48	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.858
49	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.833
50	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.831
51	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.824
52	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.770
53	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.760
54	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.743
55	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.711
56	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.706
57	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.705
58	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.668
59	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.654
60	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.639
61	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.547
62	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.514
63	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.502
64	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.498
65	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.476
66	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.472
67	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.458
68	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.444
69	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.438
70	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.418
71	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.383
72	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.370
73	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.366
74	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.350
75	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.326
76	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.325
77	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.317
78	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.299
79	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.292
80	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.253
81	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.206
82	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.200
83	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.190
84	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.189
85	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.185
86	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.169
=87	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.127
=87	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.127
89	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.114
90	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.099
91	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.021
92	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	-0.022
93	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.039
94	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	-0.040
95	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	-0.098
96	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	-0.101
97	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	-0.104
98	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	-0.116
99	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	-0.134
100	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-0.136
101	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	-0.141
102	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.196
103	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	-0.225
104	Honduras`HND`Central America	-0.239
105	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-0.295
106	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	-0.322
107	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-0.340
108	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	-0.351
109	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-0.373
110	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	-0.386
111	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	-0.393
112	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	-0.400
113	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	-0.468
=114	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.494
=114	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-0.494
116	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	-0.495
117	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-0.517
118	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	-0.558
119	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	-0.565
120	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	-0.600
=121	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	-0.617
=121	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.617
123	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	-0.620
124	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	-0.646
125	Suriname`SUR`South America	-0.676
126	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-0.678
127	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-0.700
128	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	-0.721
129	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-0.726
130	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	-0.734
131	Colombia`COL`South America	-0.777
132	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.781
133	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-0.787
134	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	-0.809
135	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	-0.814
136	Bolivia`BOL`South America	-0.817
137	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.850
138	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-0.861
139	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	-0.878
140	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	-0.933
141	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-0.940
142	Peru`PER`South America	-0.960
143	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	-0.981
144	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-1.090
145	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-1.135
146	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-1.151
147	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-1.153
148	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	-1.171
149	Paraguay`PRY`South America	-1.207
150	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-1.235
151	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	-1.261
152	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-1.272
153	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-1.274
154	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-1.285
155	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-1.290
156	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	-1.339
157	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	-1.342
158	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-1.365
159	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-1.405
160	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	-1.436
161	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	-1.446
162	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-1.507
163	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	-1.529
164	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.571
165	Niger`NER`Western Africa	-1.806
166	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-1.820
167	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-1.822
168	Guyana`GUY`South America	-1.883
169	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-1.942
170	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	-2.008
171	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-2.065
172	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-2.114
173	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-2.426
174	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-2.542
175	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-2.660
176	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	-3.044

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Israel3.497
2Estonia3.076
3China2.923
4Russia2.819
5North Korea2.771

Lowest

176Solomon Islands-3.044
175Liberia-2.660
174Timor-Leste-2.542
173Afghanistan-2.426
172Haiti-2.114

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.121. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

+0 / −0countries joined / left
82values changed, of 176 in both
57 · 25rose · fell
94unchanged

Rose most

Somaliland-1.928 → -0.565+1.363
Republic of the Congo-1.675 → -0.940+0.735
Cambodia-2.081 → -1.365+0.716
Greece0.469 → 1.178+0.709
United States1.569 → 2.254+0.685

Fell most

Kazakhstan1.471 → 0.770−0.701
Mongolia0.658 → -0.040−0.698
Malaysia2.741 → 2.126−0.615
Afghanistan-1.814 → -2.426−0.612
Egypt1.550 → 1.153−0.397

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 2021.
173 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.127. 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 · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download cyber-security-capacity-2021-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 (2021). Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/cyber-security-capacity/2021

0626 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2022
176 countries
All of them
Government Cyber Security Capacity: every year
26 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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