Data for 2002

Liberal Democracy Index, 2002

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 2002
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2002, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2002 covers 175 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.880; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.363. Against 2001, 123 values changed (80 up, 43 down), 1 country joined.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2002

HighestDenmark

0.880

LowestEritrea

0.011

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

175countries
1measure
2002the 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, 2002, 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 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Liberal Democracy Index, 2002: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.880
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.876
3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.860
4	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.859
5	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.843
6	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.838
7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.837
8	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.834
9	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.826
10	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.821
11	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.819
=12	Chile`CHL`South America	0.817
=12	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.817
14	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.813
15	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.811
16	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.808
17	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.807
18	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.803
=19	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.802
=19	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.802
21	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.801
22	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.793
23	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.787
24	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.782
25	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.780
26	United States`USA`Northern America	0.769
27	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.762
28	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.761
29	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.757
30	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.756
31	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.755
32	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.751
33	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.748
34	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.746
35	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.721
36	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.705
37	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.689
38	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.687
39	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.684
40	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.682
41	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.662
42	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.661
43	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.654
=44	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.648
=44	Peru`PER`South America	0.648
46	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.643
=47	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.629
=47	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.629
49	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.622
50	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.619
51	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.607
52	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.597
53	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.587
54	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.566
55	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.558
56	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.551
57	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.536
58	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.534
59	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.519
60	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.512
61	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.510
62	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.505
63	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.502
64	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.499
65	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.494
66	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.487
67	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.446
68	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.424
69	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.418
70	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.417
71	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.415
72	Colombia`COL`South America	0.414
73	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.408
74	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.407
75	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.405
76	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.403
77	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.399
78	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.395
79	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.394
80	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.391
81	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.388
82	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.387
=83	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.381
=83	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.381
=85	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.377
=85	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.377
87	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.373
88	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.363
=89	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.362
=89	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.362
91	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.346
92	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.340
93	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.331
=94	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.327
=94	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.327
=96	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.325
=96	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.325
98	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.308
99	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.294
100	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.291
101	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.285
102	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.265
=103	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.263
=103	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.263
105	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.261
106	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.255
107	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.253
=108	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.245
=108	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.245
110	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.239
111	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.236
=112	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.221
=112	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.221
114	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.217
115	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.214
116	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.208
117	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.206
118	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.205
119	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.202
120	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.175
121	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.171
122	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.170
123	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.167
124	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.166
125	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.161
126	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.159
127	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.158
128	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.156
129	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.153
130	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.151
131	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.150
132	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.149
133	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.143
134	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.137
135	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.135
136	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.132
137	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.131
138	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.125
139	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.124
=140	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.122
=140	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.122
142	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.121
=143	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.110
=143	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.110
145	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.104
146	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.100
147	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.097
=148	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.095
=148	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.095
150	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.092
151	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.091
152	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.090
153	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.089
=154	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.085
=154	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.085
156	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.082
157	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.080
=158	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.079
=158	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.079
160	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.073
161	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.071
162	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.056
163	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.055
164	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.053
165	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.051
166	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.048
167	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.041
168	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.039
169	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.037
170	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.034
171	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.028
172	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.018
=173	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014
=173	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.014
175	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.011

02In 2002

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.880
2Sweden0.876
3Norway0.860
4Germany0.859
5Costa Rica0.843

Lowest

175Eritrea0.011
173Turkmenistanshared0.014
173North Koreashared0.014
172Myanmar0.018
171Somalia0.028

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.363. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032001 → 2002

Since 2001

What changed between 2001 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
123values changed, of 174 in both
80 · 43rose · fell
51unchanged

Rose most

Solomon Islands0.184 → 0.381+0.197
Timor-Leste0.230 → 0.417+0.187
Kosovo0.162 → 0.346+0.184
Sierra Leone0.088 → 0.261+0.173
Lesotho0.259 → 0.377+0.118

Fell most

Nepal0.283 → 0.221−0.062
Bangladesh0.271 → 0.236−0.035
Venezuela0.288 → 0.255−0.033
Russia0.201 → 0.175−0.026
Madagascar0.270 → 0.245−0.025

+ Bahrain

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 2002.
157 distinct values among 175
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.817. 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 175 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
175 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download liberal-democracy-2002-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 (2002). Liberal Democracy Index, 2002 [data set], describing 2002. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2002

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2001
174 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2003
175 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