Data for 1998

Liberal Democracy Index, 1998

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 1998
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1998, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 1998 covers 172 countries. 2 countries share the highest reading, 0.879; North Korea is lowest, at 0.014. The middle country reads 0.310. Against 1997, 111 values changed (72 up, 39 down), 1 country joined.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 1998

Highest2 countries share it

0.879

LowestNorth Korea

0.014

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

172countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
159distinct 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, 1998, 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 172 countries · select a heading to sort

Liberal Democracy Index, 1998: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
=1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.879
=1	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.879
3	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.856
4	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.848
=5	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.841
=5	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.841
7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.839
8	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.832
9	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.825
10	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.820
11	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.816
12	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.813
13	United States`USA`Northern America	0.810
14	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.808
15	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.805
=16	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.804
=16	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.804
18	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.799
=19	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.798
=19	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.798
21	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.796
22	Chile`CHL`South America	0.786
23	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.784
24	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.783
25	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.780
26	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.764
27	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.758
28	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.757
29	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.756
=30	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.754
=30	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.754
32	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.749
33	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.729
34	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.711
=35	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.696
=35	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.696
37	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.692
38	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.652
39	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.647
40	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.646
41	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.634
42	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.629
43	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.626
44	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.617
45	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.609
46	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.604
47	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.600
48	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.598
49	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.593
50	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.575
51	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.564
52	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.553
53	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.524
54	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.522
55	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.518
56	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.517
57	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.505
58	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.500
59	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.495
60	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.493
61	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.474
62	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.459
63	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.439
64	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.438
65	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.429
66	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.428
67	Colombia`COL`South America	0.423
68	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.415
69	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.409
70	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.404
71	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.403
72	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.396
73	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.389
74	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.388
75	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.386
76	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.384
77	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.378
78	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.374
79	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.372
80	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.366
81	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.350
82	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.337
83	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.336
84	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.325
85	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.323
86	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.310
87	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.309
88	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.304
89	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.302
90	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.289
=91	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.288
=91	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.288
93	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.284
94	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.282
95	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.275
96	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.271
97	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.270
98	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.262
99	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.261
100	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.259
101	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.257
102	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.241
103	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.239
104	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.228
105	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.226
106	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.225
107	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.220
108	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.214
109	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.213
110	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.209
111	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.203
112	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.201
113	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.199
114	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.198
115	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.195
116	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.191
117	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.188
118	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.185
119	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.177
120	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.162
=121	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.161
=121	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.161
123	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.159
124	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.155
125	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.150
126	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.148
127	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.147
128	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.141
129	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.137
130	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.134
131	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.133
=132	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.132
=132	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.132
134	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.131
135	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.129
136	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.124
137	Peru`PER`South America	0.120
138	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.117
139	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.114
140	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.111
141	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.108
142	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.107
143	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.097
144	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.095
145	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.091
146	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.088
147	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.087
148	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.086
=149	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.083
=149	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.083
151	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.079
152	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.076
153	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.075
=154	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.070
=154	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.070
156	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.069
157	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.066
158	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.058
159	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.051
160	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.048
=161	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.039
=161	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.039
=161	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.039
164	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.038
165	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.037
166	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.033
167	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.027
168	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.026
169	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.024
170	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.022
171	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.017
172	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmarkshared0.879
1Swedenshared0.879
3Germany0.856
4Norway0.848
5Australiashared0.841

Lowest

172North Korea0.014
171Myanmar0.017
170Afghanistan0.022
169Turkmenistan0.024
168Sudan0.026

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.310. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
111values changed, of 171 in both
72 · 39rose · fell
60unchanged

Rose most

South Korea0.638 → 0.729+0.091
Slovakia0.540 → 0.626+0.086
Indonesia0.052 → 0.117+0.065
Thailand0.348 → 0.384+0.036
Guyana0.304 → 0.336+0.032

Fell most

Ukraine0.299 → 0.257−0.042
Venezuela0.603 → 0.575−0.028
Mali0.392 → 0.366−0.026
Sierra Leone0.094 → 0.075−0.019
Solomon Islands0.409 → 0.396−0.013

+ Montenegro

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 1998.
159 distinct values among 172
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.039. 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 172 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
172 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-1998-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 (1998). Liberal Democracy Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/1998

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 1997
171 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 1999
174 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