Data for 2021

Deliberative Democracy Index, 2021

Name: Deliberative Democracy Index, 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

Deliberative Democracy Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.873; North Korea is lowest, at 0.012. The middle country reads 0.354. Against 2020, 165 values changed (64 up, 101 down), the same countries are covered.

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Deliberative Democracy Index · Data for 2021

HighestDenmark

0.873

LowestNorth Korea

0.012

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
158distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Deliberative Democracy Index, 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

Deliberative Democracy Index, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.873
=2	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.862
=2	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.862
4	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.850
5	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.838
6	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.827
7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.824
=8	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.819
=8	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.819
10	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.818
11	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.814
12	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.813
13	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.802
14	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.796
15	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.785
16	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.781
17	Chile`CHL`South America	0.774
18	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.765
19	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.754
20	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.747
=21	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.740
=21	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.740
23	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.739
24	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.736
25	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.735
26	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.734
27	United States`USA`Northern America	0.722
28	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.709
29	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.692
30	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.678
31	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.675
32	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.673
33	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.656
34	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.652
35	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.651
=36	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.646
=36	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.646
=38	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.641
=38	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.641
40	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.639
41	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.636
42	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.627
43	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.625
44	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.616
45	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.604
46	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.598
47	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.592
48	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.590
49	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.581
50	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.575
51	Peru`PER`South America	0.572
52	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.548
53	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.543
54	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.536
55	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.533
56	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.532
57	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.517
58	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.515
=59	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.512
=59	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.512
61	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.496
62	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.493
63	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.492
64	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.489
65	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.486
66	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.480
=67	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.471
=67	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.471
69	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.467
70	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.466
71	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.457
72	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.451
73	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.446
=74	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.444
=74	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.444
=74	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.444
77	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.441
78	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.435
79	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.433
80	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.431
81	Colombia`COL`South America	0.417
82	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.412
83	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.390
84	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.386
85	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.379
86	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.373
87	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.365
88	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.356
89	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.351
90	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.342
=91	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.338
=91	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.338
93	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.332
94	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.324
95	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.323
=96	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.315
=96	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.315
98	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.313
99	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.307
100	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.305
101	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.299
102	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.290
103	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.287
104	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.280
105	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.278
106	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.273
107	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.269
108	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.266
109	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.265
110	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.259
111	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.256
112	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.254
=113	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.253
=113	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.253
=115	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.252
=115	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.252
117	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.251
118	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.250
119	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.245
120	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.243
121	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.240
122	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.236
123	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.231
124	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.227
125	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.215
=126	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.212
=126	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.212
128	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.210
129	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.189
130	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.186
131	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.181
132	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.172
133	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.171
134	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.168
135	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.166
136	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.155
=137	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.152
=137	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.152
139	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.149
140	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.144
141	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.136
142	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.121
143	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.117
144	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.116
145	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.110
146	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.109
147	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.108
148	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.104
149	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.102
150	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.101
151	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.093
152	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.089
153	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.084
154	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.082
155	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.078
156	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.069
157	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.065
158	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.063
=159	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.060
=159	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.060
161	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.058
162	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.056
163	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.051
=164	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.048
=164	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.048
166	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.045
167	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.044
168	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.043
=169	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.037
=169	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.037
171	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.035
172	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.030
173	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.028
174	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.025
175	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.020
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.012

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.873
2Switzerlandshared0.862
2Norwayshared0.862
4Sweden0.850
5Costa Rica0.838

Lowest

176North Korea0.012
175Syria0.020
174Yemen0.025
173Nicaragua0.028
172Turkmenistan0.030

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.354. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
165values changed, of 176 in both
64 · 101rose · fell
11unchanged

Rose most

Bolivia0.185 → 0.412+0.227
Moldova0.453 → 0.639+0.186
United States0.587 → 0.722+0.135
Estonia0.712 → 0.802+0.090
Romania0.466 → 0.536+0.070

Fell most

Myanmar0.350 → 0.043−0.307
Afghanistan0.241 → 0.037−0.204
Tunisia0.639 → 0.466−0.173
Mali0.375 → 0.252−0.123
Guyana0.359 → 0.243−0.116

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

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. It can differ from what was first published for 2021.
158 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.444. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 176 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
176 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download deliberative-democracy-2021-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

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

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2021). Deliberative Democracy Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/deliberative-democracy/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Deliberative Democracy Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Deliberative Democracy Index, 2022
176 countries
All of them
Deliberative Democracy Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions