Data for 1991

Liberal Democracy Index, 1991

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 1991
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1991, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 1991 covers 169 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.881; Sudan is lowest, at 0.012. The middle country reads 0.216. Against 1990, 128 values changed (101 up, 27 down), 4 countries joined.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 1991

HighestDenmark

0.881

LowestSudan

0.012

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

169countries
1measure
1991the year it describes
145distinct 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 Liberal Democracy Index, 1991, 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 169 countries · select a heading to sort

Liberal Democracy Index, 1991: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.881
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.878
3	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.853
4	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.851
5	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.845
6	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.841
7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.832
8	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.823
9	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.814
10	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.811
11	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.809
12	United States`USA`Northern America	0.805
13	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.803
14	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.802
15	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.798
16	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.796
17	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.788
18	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.785
19	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.783
=20	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.779
=20	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.779
22	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.776
23	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.762
24	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.757
=25	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.754
=25	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.754
27	Chile`CHL`South America	0.750
28	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.742
29	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.738
30	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.716
31	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.714
32	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.692
33	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.690
34	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.646
35	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.635
36	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.630
37	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.624
38	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.618
39	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.605
40	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.577
41	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.570
42	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.569
43	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.561
44	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.557
45	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.520
46	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.508
47	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.507
48	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.500
49	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.495
50	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.490
51	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.471
52	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.467
53	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.456
54	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.448
55	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.433
56	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.425
57	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.414
58	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.403
59	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.395
=60	Colombia`COL`South America	0.390
=60	Peru`PER`South America	0.390
62	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.389
63	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.374
64	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.368
=65	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.361
=65	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.361
67	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.348
68	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.332
69	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.330
70	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.328
71	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.309
72	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.301
73	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.278
74	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.275
75	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.274
76	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.268
77	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.263
78	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.260
79	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.255
80	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.254
81	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.253
82	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.248
83	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.238
84	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.225
85	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.216
86	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.215
87	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.208
88	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.203
=89	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.197
=89	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.197
=91	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.196
=91	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.196
93	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.193
94	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.191
=95	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.189
=95	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.189
=97	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.180
=97	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.180
=99	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.177
=99	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.177
101	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.175
102	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.171
103	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.170
104	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.166
105	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.162
106	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.160
107	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.158
=108	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.157
=108	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.157
=110	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.154
=110	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.154
112	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.150
=113	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.148
=113	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.148
=115	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.140
=115	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.140
117	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.137
=118	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.132
=118	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.132
120	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.131
=121	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.129
=121	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.129
123	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.128
124	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.126
125	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.115
126	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.114
127	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.111
128	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.104
129	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.103
130	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.100
131	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.097
132	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.095
133	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.093
134	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.089
135	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.087
136	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.084
137	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.082
138	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.081
139	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.080
140	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.078
141	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.076
142	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.075
143	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.074
144	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.072
145	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.069
146	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.065
=147	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.060
=147	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.060
149	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.058
=150	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.057
=150	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.057
=152	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.055
=152	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.055
=152	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.055
=155	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.049
=155	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.049
=157	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.048
=157	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.048
159	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.043
160	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.041
=161	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.037
=161	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.037
=161	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.037
164	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.033
=165	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.028
=165	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.028
167	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.017
168	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014
169	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.012

02In 1991

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.881
2Sweden0.878
3Germany0.853
4Australia0.851
5Norway0.845

Lowest

169Sudan0.012
168North Korea0.014
167Myanmar0.017
165Cambodiashared0.028
165Eritreashared0.028

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.216. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031990 → 1991

Since 1990

What changed between 1990 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+4 / −0countries joined / left
128values changed, of 165 in both
101 · 27rose · fell
37unchanged

Rose most

Cabo Verde0.289 → 0.569+0.280
Slovenia0.513 → 0.716+0.203
São Tomé and Príncipe0.201 → 0.403+0.202
Benin0.162 → 0.361+0.199
Albania0.070 → 0.260+0.190

Fell most

Suriname0.547 → 0.374−0.173
Estonia0.681 → 0.520−0.161
Thailand0.264 → 0.158−0.106
Serbia0.150 → 0.103−0.047
Lesotho0.180 → 0.154−0.026

+ Croatia

+ North Macedonia

+ Turkmenistan+ Somaliland

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 1991.
145 distinct values among 169
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.055. 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 169 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
169 rows · 4.6 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download liberal-democracy-1991-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 (1991). Liberal Democracy Index, 1991 [data set], describing 1991. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/1991

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 1990
165 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 1992
170 countries
All of them
Liberal Democracy Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions