Data for 1994

Liberal Democracy Index, 1994

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 1994
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1994, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 1994 covers 171 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.881; North Korea is lowest, at 0.014. The middle country reads 0.298. Against 1993, 119 values changed (78 up, 41 down), the same countries are covered.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 1994

HighestDenmark

0.881

LowestNorth Korea

0.014

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

171countries
1measure
1994the 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 Liberal Democracy Index, 1994, 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 171 countries · select a heading to sort

Liberal Democracy Index, 1994: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.881
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.877
3	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.853
4	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.848
5	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.847
6	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.841
7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.834
8	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.831
9	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.819
10	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.818
=11	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.813
=11	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.813
13	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.811
14	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.808
15	United States`USA`Northern America	0.806
16	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.803
17	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.801
18	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.797
19	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.792
20	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.788
21	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.785
22	Chile`CHL`South America	0.783
23	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.782
24	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.776
25	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.765
26	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.762
27	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.761
28	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.760
29	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.757
30	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.755
31	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.751
32	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.743
33	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.707
34	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.694
35	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.680
36	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.646
37	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.645
38	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.639
=39	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.635
=39	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.635
41	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.633
42	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.619
43	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.612
44	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.602
45	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.593
46	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.586
47	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.582
48	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.581
49	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.580
50	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.539
51	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.533
52	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.518
53	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.503
54	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.491
55	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.487
56	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.486
57	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.484
58	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.481
59	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.463
60	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.450
=61	Colombia`COL`South America	0.426
=61	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.426
=63	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.413
=63	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.413
65	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.410
66	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.409
67	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.407
68	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.404
69	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.392
70	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.388
71	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.383
=72	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.377
=72	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.377
74	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.372
75	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.371
76	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.351
77	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.345
78	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.340
79	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.333
80	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.326
=81	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.318
=81	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.318
83	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.315
84	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.303
85	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.299
86	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.298
87	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.297
=88	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.293
=88	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.293
90	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.291
91	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.286
92	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.279
93	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.277
94	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.269
95	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.267
96	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.260
97	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.258
98	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.256
99	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.253
100	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.229
101	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.225
102	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.223
103	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.218
104	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.214
105	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.208
106	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.206
107	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.201
=108	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.199
=108	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.199
110	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.198
=111	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.196
=111	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.196
113	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.194
114	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.188
115	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.187
116	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.180
117	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.176
118	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.168
119	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.165
120	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.163
121	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.162
122	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.159
123	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.156
124	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.147
125	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.146
=126	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.139
=126	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.139
128	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.135
129	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.131
130	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.124
131	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.122
132	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.120
133	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.114
134	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.110
135	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.107
136	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.101
137	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.099
138	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.098
139	Peru`PER`South America	0.094
140	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.091
=141	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.086
=141	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.086
143	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.085
=144	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.084
=144	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.084
146	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.081
147	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.080
148	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.077
149	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.075
150	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.067
151	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.066
152	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.065
153	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.060
154	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.057
155	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.054
=156	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.052
=156	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.052
158	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.048
159	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.045
160	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.039
=161	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.037
=161	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.037
163	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.036
164	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.035
165	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.034
166	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.028
167	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.026
168	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.023
169	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.018
170	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.017
171	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014

02In 1994

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.881
2Sweden0.877
3Germany0.853
4Australia0.848
5Norway0.847

Lowest

171North Korea0.014
170Myanmar0.017
169Sudan0.018
168Afghanistan0.023
167Somalia0.026

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.298. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031993 → 1994

Since 1993

What changed between 1993 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
119values changed, of 171 in both
78 · 41rose · fell
52unchanged

Rose most

Malawi0.110 → 0.299+0.189
South Africa0.159 → 0.293+0.134
Madagascar0.252 → 0.372+0.120
Guinea-Bissau0.078 → 0.135+0.057
Ghana0.334 → 0.388+0.054

Fell most

Gambia0.318 → 0.139−0.179
Slovakia0.628 → 0.539−0.089
Azerbaijan0.137 → 0.086−0.051
Nigeria0.148 → 0.098−0.050
Belarus0.440 → 0.404−0.036

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 1994.
157 distinct values among 171
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.813. 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 171 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
171 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-1994-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 (1994). Liberal Democracy Index, 1994 [data set], describing 1994. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/1994

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 1993
171 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 1995
171 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