Data for 1996

Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1996

Name: Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1996
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1996, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

V-Dem's Egalitarian Democracy Index asks whether rights and freedoms are protected equally for every social group, whether groups have equal access to political power, and whether the means of using them — such as education and health care — are shared equally, on top of genuine elections. It runs from 0 to 1, and a higher figure is more democratic.

Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1996 covers 173 countries. Sweden is highest, at 0.874; Afghanistan is lowest, at 0.036. The middle country reads 0.299. Against 1995, 112 values changed (72 up, 40 down), the same countries are covered.

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Egalitarian Democracy Index · Data for 1996

HighestSweden

0.874

LowestAfghanistan

0.036

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

173countries
1measure
1996the year it describes
157distinct 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 Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1996, 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 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1996: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.874
2	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.869
3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.840
4	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.825
5	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.822
6	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.819
7	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.815
8	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.814
9	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.809
10	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.808
11	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.798
12	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.795
13	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.791
=14	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.784
=14	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.784
16	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.780
17	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.777
18	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.773
19	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.764
20	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.763
21	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.760
22	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.759
23	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.756
24	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.755
25	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.753
26	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.743
27	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.720
28	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.719
29	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.713
30	United States`USA`Northern America	0.706
31	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.670
32	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.660
33	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.652
34	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.639
35	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.638
36	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.631
37	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.622
38	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.620
39	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.608
40	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.607
41	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.588
42	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.569
43	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.568
=44	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.564
=44	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.564
46	Chile`CHL`South America	0.549
47	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.525
48	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.514
49	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.496
50	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.487
51	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.477
52	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.473
53	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.472
54	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.457
55	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.456
56	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.449
57	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.447
58	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.439
=59	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.435
=59	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.435
61	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.428
62	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.416
63	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.401
64	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.399
65	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.381
=66	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.366
=66	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.366
68	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.364
69	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.361
70	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.359
71	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.355
72	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.343
73	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.341
74	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.336
75	Colombia`COL`South America	0.333
=76	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.331
=76	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.331
78	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.327
79	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.321
=80	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.320
=80	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.320
82	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.318
83	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.317
84	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.315
85	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.313
86	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.304
87	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.299
88	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.293
89	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.292
90	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.291
91	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.287
92	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.286
93	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.275
94	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.269
95	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.262
96	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.257
97	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.256
98	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.252
99	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.248
100	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.244
101	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.241
102	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.234
103	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.232
104	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.227
=105	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.224
=105	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.224
107	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.222
108	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.221
109	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.218
110	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.214
111	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.213
112	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.210
=113	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.209
=113	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.209
115	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.208
116	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.204
=117	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.203
=117	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.203
119	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.199
120	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.198
=121	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.194
=121	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.194
123	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.185
124	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.182
125	Peru`PER`South America	0.181
126	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.174
127	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.171
128	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.168
129	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.164
130	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.162
131	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.159
132	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.156
133	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.155
134	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.153
=135	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.151
=135	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.151
137	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.149
138	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.146
139	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.142
140	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.141
141	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.140
142	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.135
=143	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.133
=143	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.133
145	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.132
146	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.130
=147	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.127
=147	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.127
=147	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.127
150	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.125
151	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.119
152	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.116
153	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.115
154	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.112
155	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.111
=156	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.109
=156	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.109
158	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.108
159	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.102
160	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.101
161	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.098
=162	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.094
=162	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.094
164	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.089
165	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.087
166	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.084
167	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.076
168	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.071
169	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.070
170	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.063
171	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.055
172	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.043
173	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.036

02In 1996

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Sweden0.874
2Denmark0.869
3Norway0.840
4Germany0.825
5Belgium0.822

Lowest

173Afghanistan0.036
172Somalia0.043
171Sudan0.055
170Angola0.063
169Eswatini0.070

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.299. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031995 → 1996

Since 1995

What changed between 1995 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
112values changed, of 173 in both
72 · 40rose · fell
61unchanged

Rose most

Taiwan0.314 → 0.435+0.121
Bosnia and Herzegovina0.147 → 0.227+0.080
Algeria0.208 → 0.269+0.061
Côte d’Ivoire0.184 → 0.241+0.057
Sierra Leone0.093 → 0.142+0.049

Fell most

Niger0.373 → 0.244−0.129
Armenia0.421 → 0.364−0.057
Belarus0.421 → 0.381−0.040
Comoros0.272 → 0.234−0.038
Albania0.317 → 0.287−0.030

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 1996.
157 distinct values among 173
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.127. 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 173 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
173 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download egalitarian-democracy-1996-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 (1996). Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1996 [data set], describing 1996. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/egalitarian-democracy/1996

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1995
173 countries
The year after ›
Egalitarian Democracy Index, 1997
173 countries
All of them
Egalitarian Democracy Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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