Data for 2016

Liberal Democracy Index, 2016

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 2016
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2016, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2016 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.892; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.006. The middle country reads 0.379. Against 2015, 151 values changed (64 up, 87 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2016

HighestDenmark

0.892

LowestEritrea

0.006

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

176countries
1measure
2016the year it describes
162distinct 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, 2016, 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, 2016: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.892
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.880
=3	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.859
=3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.859
5	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.857
6	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.852
7	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.848
8	Chile`CHL`South America	0.839
9	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.837
10	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.833
11	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.832
12	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.831
=13	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.830
=13	United States`USA`Northern America	0.830
15	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.828
16	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.827
17	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.815
18	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.812
19	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.795
20	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.793
21	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.791
22	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.787
23	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.780
=24	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.776
=24	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.776
26	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.772
27	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.766
28	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.763
29	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.762
30	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.748
31	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.740
32	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.739
33	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.727
34	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.726
35	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.713
36	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.685
37	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.676
38	Peru`PER`South America	0.673
39	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.662
40	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.661
41	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.653
42	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.651
43	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.646
44	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.645
45	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.630
46	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.626
47	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.622
=48	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.620
=48	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.620
50	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.612
51	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.610
52	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.598
53	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.584
54	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.582
55	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.579
56	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.578
57	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.572
58	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.561
59	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.557
60	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.550
=61	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.548
=61	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.548
63	Colombia`COL`South America	0.547
64	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.518
65	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.504
66	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.496
67	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.491
68	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.474
69	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.471
70	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.466
71	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.461
72	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.460
73	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.459
74	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.456
75	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.454
76	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.452
77	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.451
78	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.450
79	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.442
80	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.436
81	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.434
82	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.433
83	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.424
84	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.421
85	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.414
86	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.406
87	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.395
88	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.383
89	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.375
90	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.358
91	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.355
92	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.349
=93	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.346
=93	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.346
95	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.337
96	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.335
97	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.333
98	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.328
99	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.321
100	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.314
101	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.303
102	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.296
103	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.294
104	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.292
105	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.289
106	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.281
107	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.279
108	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.275
109	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.264
110	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.260
=111	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.258
=111	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.258
113	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.255
114	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.254
115	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.252
116	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.240
117	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.239
118	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.238
=119	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.231
=119	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.231
121	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.226
122	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.224
123	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.205
124	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.204
125	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.203
126	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.202
127	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.195
128	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.188
129	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.182
130	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.178
131	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.170
132	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.166
133	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.165
134	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.143
135	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.141
136	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.139
137	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.137
138	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.128
139	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.123
140	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.122
141	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.120
142	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.119
143	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.118
144	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.117
=145	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.114
=145	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.114
=147	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.110
=147	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.110
149	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.107
=150	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.106
=150	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.106
152	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.105
153	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.103
154	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.101
155	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.099
156	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.097
157	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.092
158	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.091
159	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.089
160	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.088
161	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.064
162	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.062
163	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.055
164	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.053
165	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.052
=166	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.051
=166	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.051
168	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.046
169	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.044
170	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.039
=171	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.037
=171	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.037
=173	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.025
=173	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.025
175	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.006

02In 2016

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.892
2Sweden0.880
3Estoniashared0.859
3Norwayshared0.859
5Switzerland0.857

Lowest

176Eritrea0.006
175North Korea0.014
173Turkmenistanshared0.025
173Syriashared0.025
171Yemenshared0.037

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.379. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032015 → 2016

Since 2015

What changed between 2015 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
151values changed, of 176 in both
64 · 87rose · fell
25unchanged

Rose most

Burkina Faso0.306 → 0.504+0.198
Seychelles0.427 → 0.491+0.064
Benin0.523 → 0.579+0.056
Sri Lanka0.397 → 0.450+0.053
Central African Republic0.179 → 0.231+0.052

Fell most

Poland0.775 → 0.598−0.177
Brazil0.769 → 0.653−0.116
Türkiye0.230 → 0.143−0.087
Philippines0.409 → 0.346−0.063
Croatia0.703 → 0.651−0.052

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 2016.
162 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.859. 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-2016-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 (2016). Liberal Democracy Index, 2016 [data set], describing 2016. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2016

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2015
176 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2017
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