Data for 2021

Equal Protection Index, 2021

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Equal Protection Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Luxembourg is highest, at 0.984; Yemen is lowest, at 0.035. The middle country reads 0.690. Against 2020, 136 values changed (72 up, 64 down), the same countries are covered.

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Equal Protection Index · Data for 2021

HighestLuxembourg

0.984

LowestYemen

0.035

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
163distinct values3 decimals, as published
Oct 3, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Equal Protection 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

Equal Protection Index, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.984
2	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.981
3	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.980
4	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.978
5	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.975
6	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.973
7	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.963
8	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.962
9	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.960
10	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.958
11	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.956
=12	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.955
=12	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.955
14	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.941
15	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.936
16	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.919
17	Costa RicaCRICentral America	0.917
18	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.912
19	TaiwanTWNEastern Asia	0.909
20	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.908
21	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.907
22	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.896
23	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.889
24	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	0.888
25	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.884
26	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.875
27	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.874
28	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.871
29	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.865
30	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	0.860
31	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.859
=32	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.852
=32	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.852
34	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.848
35	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.840
36	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.829
=37	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	0.822
=37	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	0.822
=39	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.817
=39	NigerNERWestern Africa	0.817
41	ChileCHLSouth America	0.815
42	MaliMLIWestern Africa	0.811
43	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	0.807
44	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.805
45	UruguayURYSouth America	0.803
46	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	0.800
47	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.798
48	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.797
49	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.796
50	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	0.793
51	SenegalSENWestern Africa	0.792
52	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.791
53	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.788
54	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0.783
55	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.775
56	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.771
57	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	0.770
58	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.769
59	CubaCUBCaribbean	0.763
60	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	0.761
61	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	0.760
62	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.757
=63	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.756
=63	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.756
65	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.755
66	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	0.751
67	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.750
68	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.748
69	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.745
70	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.743
71	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.742
72	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	0.739
=73	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.737
=73	SurinameSURSouth America	0.737
75	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	0.734
76	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	0.733
77	BoliviaBOLSouth America	0.720
78	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	0.715
79	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	0.713
80	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	0.711
81	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.705
82	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.704
=83	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.698
=83	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.698
=85	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	0.694
=85	United StatesUSANorthern America	0.694
87	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	0.692
88	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.691
89	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.689
90	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0.685
91	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.677
=92	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.676
=92	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	0.676
94	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	0.675
95	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.672
96	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	0.664
97	GuyanaGUYSouth America	0.657
98	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	0.644
99	TogoTGOWestern Africa	0.636
100	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.631
101	GuineaGINWestern Africa	0.627
102	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.626
=103	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.621
=103	UkraineUKREastern Europe	0.621
=105	BelarusBLREastern Europe	0.620
=105	OmanOMNWestern Asia	0.620
107	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	0.614
108	JordanJORWestern Asia	0.609
109	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	0.607
110	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.592
111	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	0.591
112	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.590
113	ColombiaCOLSouth America	0.586
114	PanamaPANCentral America	0.579
115	KenyaKENEastern Africa	0.571
116	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.560
117	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.559
118	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.556
119	PeruPERSouth America	0.550
120	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	0.530
121	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	0.526
122	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.513
123	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.508
124	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.505
125	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	0.492
126	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	0.489
127	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	0.488
128	BrazilBRASouth America	0.483
129	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.477
130	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.462
131	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	0.458
132	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	0.457
133	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.453
134	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.444
135	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.440
136	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.405
137	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	0.363
138	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	0.362
139	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.353
140	EritreaERIEastern Africa	0.351
141	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.344
=142	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.340
=142	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	0.340
144	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.332
145	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	0.327
146	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.314
147	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	0.306
148	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.297
149	SomalilandXSLEastern Africa	0.295
150	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.292
151	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.289
152	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	0.267
153	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	0.263
154	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	0.257
155	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	0.256
156	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	0.254
157	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.226
158	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.222
159	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.221
160	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	0.214
161	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.213
=162	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.204
=162	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.204
164	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.177
165	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	0.174
166	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	0.172
167	QatarQATWestern Asia	0.168
168	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.156
169	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.142
170	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.136
171	HaitiHTICaribbean	0.098
172	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	0.084
173	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.079
174	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	0.078
175	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	0.061
176	YemenYEMWestern Asia	0.035

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Luxembourg0.984
2Denmark0.981
3Austria0.980
4Japan0.978
5Finland0.975

Lowest

176Yemen0.035
175South Sudan0.061
174Angola0.078
173Cambodia0.079
172North Korea0.084

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.690. “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
136values changed, of 176 in both
72 · 64rose · fell
40unchanged

Rose most

Lebanon0.416 → 0.761+0.345
Bolivia0.500 → 0.720+0.220
Somalia0.122 → 0.256+0.134
Zambia0.389 → 0.513+0.124
Suriname0.615 → 0.737+0.122

Fell most

Namibia0.594 → 0.289−0.305
Myanmar0.522 → 0.254−0.268
Afghanistan0.514 → 0.267−0.247
Qatar0.330 → 0.168−0.162
Jordan0.763 → 0.609−0.154

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.

The site’s method

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.
163 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.955. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the better result.
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 equal-protection-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. Share, adapt and use commercially with credit — and anything you publish that adapts it must carry the same licence.

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2021). Equal Protection Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/equal-protection/2021

0636 held

Other years

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

07Questions