Data for 2017

Liberal Democracy Index, 2017

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 2017
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2017, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2017 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.891; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.007. The middle country reads 0.374. Against 2016, 164 values changed (68 up, 96 down), the same countries are covered.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2017

HighestDenmark

0.891

LowestEritrea

0.007

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

176countries
1measure
2017the year it describes
160distinct 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, 2017, 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, 2017: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.891
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.880
3	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.861
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.860
5	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.855
6	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.850
7	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.848
=8	Chile`CHL`South America	0.842
=8	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.842
=10	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.836
=10	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.836
12	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.833
=13	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.828
=13	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.828
15	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.822
16	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.821
17	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.817
18	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.801
19	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.797
20	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.793
21	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.791
22	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.782
23	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.779
24	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.775
25	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.772
26	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.769
27	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.757
28	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.753
29	United States`USA`Northern America	0.749
=30	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.744
=30	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.744
32	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.737
33	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.731
34	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.726
35	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.720
36	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.707
37	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.696
38	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.682
39	Peru`PER`South America	0.677
40	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.676
41	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.660
42	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.641
=43	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.632
=43	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.632
45	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.628
=46	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.626
=46	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.626
48	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.623
49	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.622
50	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.609
51	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.593
52	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.577
53	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.568
54	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.558
55	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.556
=56	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.553
=56	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.553
58	Colombia`COL`South America	0.548
59	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.544
60	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.542
61	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.537
62	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.532
63	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.521
64	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.511
65	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.509
66	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.498
67	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.489
68	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.484
69	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.480
70	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.477
71	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.465
72	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.459
=73	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.457
=73	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.457
75	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.448
76	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.444
77	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.440
78	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.437
79	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.432
80	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.426
81	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.418
82	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.408
83	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.399
84	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.394
=85	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.393
=85	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.393
87	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.376
88	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.375
89	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.372
90	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.371
91	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.360
92	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.355
93	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.351
94	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.346
95	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.345
96	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.344
97	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.338
=98	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.328
=98	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.328
100	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.326
101	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.321
102	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.303
=103	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.294
=103	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.294
105	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.290
106	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.289
107	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.288
108	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.286
109	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.283
110	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.275
111	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.260
112	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.257
113	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.254
114	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.251
115	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.244
116	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.241
117	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.240
118	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.239
=119	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.233
=119	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.233
121	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.231
122	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.230
123	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.229
124	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.225
125	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.219
126	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.206
127	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.201
128	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.194
129	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.183
130	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.178
131	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.167
132	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.161
133	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.160
134	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.157
135	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.140
136	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.139
137	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.134
138	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.131
139	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.123
140	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.116
141	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.115
142	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.113
143	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.112
=144	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.110
=144	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.110
=146	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.107
=146	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.107
148	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.106
=149	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.103
=149	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.103
151	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.102
152	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.101
153	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.099
154	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.098
155	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.093
156	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.091
157	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.085
158	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.084
159	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.082
160	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.078
161	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.074
162	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.067
163	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.059
164	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.058
=165	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.052
=165	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.052
167	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.050
168	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.049
169	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.045
170	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.043
171	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.040
172	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.036
173	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.027
174	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.025
175	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.007

02In 2017

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.891
2Sweden0.880
3Estonia0.861
4Switzerland0.860
5Norway0.855

Lowest

176Eritrea0.007
175North Korea0.014
174Syria0.025
173Turkmenistan0.027
172Yemen0.036

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.374. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032016 → 2017

Since 2016

What changed between 2016 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
164values changed, of 176 in both
68 · 96rose · fell
12unchanged

Rose most

Gambia0.110 → 0.393+0.283
South Korea0.620 → 0.791+0.171
North Macedonia0.279 → 0.376+0.097
Ecuador0.264 → 0.338+0.074
Jordan0.195 → 0.230+0.035

Fell most

Romania0.630 → 0.532−0.098
United States0.830 → 0.749−0.081
Poland0.598 → 0.542−0.056
Kosovo0.454 → 0.399−0.055
Lesotho0.424 → 0.372−0.052

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 2017.
160 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.842. 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-2017-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 (2017). Liberal Democracy Index, 2017 [data set], describing 2017. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2017

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2016
176 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2018
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