Data for 2012

Liberal Democracy Index, 2012

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 2012
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2012, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2012 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.895; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.005. The middle country reads 0.370. Against 2011, 141 values changed (76 up, 65 down), the same countries are covered.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2012

HighestDenmark

0.895

LowestEritrea

0.005

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

176countries
1measure
2012the 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, 2012, 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

Liberal Democracy Index, 2012: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.895
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.886
3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.869
4	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.863
5	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.862
6	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.858
7	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.857
8	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.847
=9	Chile`CHL`South America	0.844
=9	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.844
11	United States`USA`Northern America	0.842
12	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.840
13	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.835
14	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.832
15	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.830
=16	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.825
=16	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.825
18	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.822
19	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.820
20	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.814
21	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.810
22	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.804
23	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.803
24	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.799
25	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.794
26	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.793
27	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.792
28	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.783
29	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.777
30	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.774
31	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.768
32	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.744
33	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.739
34	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.738
35	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.733
36	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.728
37	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.702
38	Peru`PER`South America	0.698
39	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.687
40	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.676
41	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.675
42	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.668
=43	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.667
=43	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.667
45	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.661
46	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.658
47	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.656
48	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.642
=49	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.624
=49	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.624
51	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.621
52	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.620
53	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.617
54	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.582
55	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.566
56	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.561
57	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.558
58	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.554
=59	Colombia`COL`South America	0.540
=59	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.540
=59	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.540
62	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.537
63	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.534
64	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.533
65	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.525
66	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.507
67	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.495
68	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.486
69	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.483
=70	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.482
=70	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.482
72	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.480
73	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.457
74	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.453
75	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.447
76	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.444
77	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.429
78	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.424
79	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.421
=80	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.413
=80	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.413
82	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.401
83	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.400
=84	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.391
=84	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.391
86	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.376
87	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.373
88	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.370
89	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.369
90	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.366
91	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.361
92	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.360
=93	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.358
=93	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.358
95	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.354
96	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.346
97	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.334
98	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.333
99	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.328
100	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.324
101	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.316
102	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.315
103	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.310
104	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.306
105	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.303
106	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.296
107	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.283
108	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.282
109	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.279
110	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.268
111	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.262
112	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.260
113	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.256
114	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.250
115	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.246
116	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.240
=117	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.235
=117	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.235
119	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.233
120	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.232
121	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.230
122	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.218
123	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.217
=124	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.210
=124	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.210
126	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.202
127	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.201
128	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.194
129	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.182
130	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.171
131	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.167
132	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.166
133	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.164
134	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.159
135	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.157
136	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.156
137	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.145
138	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.141
139	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.138
140	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.136
=141	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.134
=141	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.134
143	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.122
=144	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.121
=144	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.121
146	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.118
=147	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.115
=147	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.115
=149	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.113
=149	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.113
151	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.107
=152	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.106
=152	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.106
154	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.105
=155	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.100
=155	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.100
157	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.099
158	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.096
159	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.095
160	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.094
161	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.093
162	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.089
163	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.086
164	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.067
165	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.062
166	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.060
167	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.056
168	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.052
=169	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.049
=169	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.049
171	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.046
172	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.036
173	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.031
174	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.023
175	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.005

02In 2012

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.895
2Sweden0.886
3Norway0.869
4Germany0.863
5Switzerland0.862

Lowest

176Eritrea0.005
175North Korea0.014
174Turkmenistan0.023
173Syria0.031
172Uzbekistan0.036

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.370. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032011 → 2012

Since 2011

What changed between 2011 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
141values changed, of 176 in both
76 · 65rose · fell
35unchanged

Rose most

Tunisia0.247 → 0.642+0.395
Libya0.061 → 0.210+0.149
Niger0.390 → 0.482+0.092
Egypt0.122 → 0.157+0.035
Côte d’Ivoire0.275 → 0.303+0.028

Fell most

Mali0.407 → 0.233−0.174
Nepal0.472 → 0.310−0.162
Guinea-Bissau0.260 → 0.171−0.089
Maldives0.392 → 0.333−0.059
Nicaragua0.188 → 0.156−0.032

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 2012.
157 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.540. 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 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 liberal-democracy-2012-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 (2012). Liberal Democracy Index, 2012 [data set], describing 2012. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2012

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2011
176 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2013
176 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