Data for 2023

Equal Protection Index, 2023

2023, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Equal Protection Index, 2023 covers 176 countries. 2 countries share the highest reading, 0.981; Central African Republic is lowest, at 0.043. The middle country reads 0.677. Against 2022, 135 values changed (69 up, 66 down), the same countries are covered.

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Equal Protection Index · Data for 2023

Highest2 countries share it

0.981

LowestCentral African Republic

0.043

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

176countries
1measure
2023the year it describes
157distinct 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, 2023, 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, 2023: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
=1	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.981
=1	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.981
3	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.978
4	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.975
5	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.973
6	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.964
7	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.962
8	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.958
9	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.956
=10	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.955
=10	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.955
12	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.952
13	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.948
14	NigerNERWestern Africa	0.947
15	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.931
16	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.924
17	TaiwanTWNEastern Asia	0.922
18	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.919
19	Costa RicaCRICentral America	0.917
20	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	0.914
21	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.912
22	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.908
23	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.897
24	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.891
25	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.889
26	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.884
27	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.877
28	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.859
29	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.858
=30	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	0.854
=30	MaliMLIWestern Africa	0.854
32	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	0.852
33	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.840
34	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.834
35	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0.829
36	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.823
37	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.817
38	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	0.815
39	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	0.814
40	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.810
41	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.809
42	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.807
43	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.791
44	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.790
45	ChileCHLSouth America	0.789
46	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.786
47	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.785
48	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.783
49	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.781
50	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.778
=51	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.772
=51	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.772
53	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	0.771
54	SurinameSURSouth America	0.769
55	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.768
=56	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.767
=56	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.767
58	UruguayURYSouth America	0.761
59	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	0.760
60	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.755
61	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	0.754
62	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	0.753
=63	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	0.751
=63	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.751
65	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	0.741
66	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.740
67	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	0.738
68	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	0.737
69	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.735
70	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	0.733
71	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	0.728
72	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.726
73	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.719
74	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.715
=75	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.711
=75	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.711
=75	SenegalSENWestern Africa	0.711
78	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	0.709
79	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0.699
80	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	0.697
81	UkraineUKREastern Europe	0.694
82	BoliviaBOLSouth America	0.690
83	BelarusBLREastern Europe	0.689
84	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.685
85	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	0.682
86	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.680
=87	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	0.678
=87	CubaCUBCaribbean	0.678
89	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	0.675
=90	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.673
=90	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.673
92	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	0.670
93	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.669
94	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	0.658
95	JordanJORWestern Asia	0.653
=96	ColombiaCOLSouth America	0.648
=96	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	0.648
98	GuyanaGUYSouth America	0.646
99	TogoTGOWestern Africa	0.645
100	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	0.644
101	GuineaGINWestern Africa	0.636
102	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.635
103	United StatesUSANorthern America	0.633
104	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.625
105	BrazilBRASouth America	0.624
=106	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.618
=106	PanamaPANCentral America	0.618
108	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	0.590
109	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.580
=110	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.561
=110	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.561
=110	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.561
113	EritreaERIEastern Africa	0.558
=114	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	0.557
=114	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.557
116	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.553
=117	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	0.551
=117	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.551
119	PeruPERSouth America	0.529
120	OmanOMNWestern Asia	0.526
121	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.515
122	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.513
123	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.512
124	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	0.510
125	KenyaKENEastern Africa	0.503
126	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.492
127	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	0.476
128	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.475
129	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	0.473
130	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.454
131	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.442
132	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	0.440
133	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.431
134	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	0.423
135	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	0.420
=136	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.367
=136	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.367
138	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.362
139	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	0.357
140	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.349
141	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.343
142	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	0.342
143	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	0.314
144	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	0.311
145	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.310
=146	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	0.303
=146	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	0.303
148	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.302
149	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.294
150	SomalilandXSLEastern Africa	0.272
151	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	0.271
152	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.259
153	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	0.258
154	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.242
155	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.233
156	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.231
157	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.218
=158	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.217
=158	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.217
160	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	0.214
161	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.191
162	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.190
163	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	0.187
164	QatarQATWestern Asia	0.173
165	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	0.172
166	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.162
167	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.127
168	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	0.113
169	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.103
170	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	0.099
171	YemenYEMWestern Asia	0.097
172	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	0.079
173	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	0.077
174	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.076
175	HaitiHTICaribbean	0.058
176	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	0.043

02In 2023

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Austriashared0.981
1Denmarkshared0.981
3Japan0.978
4Finland0.975
5Germany0.973

Lowest

176Central African Republic0.043
175Haiti0.058
174Cambodia0.076
173South Sudan0.077
172Angola0.079

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.677. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

What changed between 2022 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
135values changed, of 176 in both
69 · 66rose · fell
41unchanged

Rose most

Suriname0.629 → 0.769+0.140
Brazil0.485 → 0.624+0.139
Argentina0.698 → 0.767+0.069
Nigeria0.606 → 0.675+0.069
Solomon Islands0.693 → 0.760+0.067

Fell most

Central African Republic0.260 → 0.043−0.217
Zimbabwe0.701 → 0.553−0.148
Lesotho0.818 → 0.685−0.133
Tunisia0.911 → 0.807−0.104
Senegal0.812 → 0.711−0.101

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 2023.
157 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.711. 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-2023-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 (2023). Equal Protection Index, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/equal-protection/2023

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Equal Protection Index, 2022
176 countries
The year after ›
Equal Protection Index, 2024
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