Data for 2019

Liberal Democracy Index, 2019

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 2019
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2019, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2019 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.886; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.009. The middle country reads 0.393. Against 2018, 170 values changed (67 up, 103 down), the same countries are covered.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2019

HighestDenmark

0.886

LowestEritrea

0.009

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

176countries
1measure
2019the year it describes
158distinct 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, 2019, 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, 2019: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.886
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.866
3	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.860
4	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.852
5	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.848
=6	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.842
=6	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.842
8	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.837
9	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.836
=10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.831
=10	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.831
12	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.822
13	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.820
14	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.819
15	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.804
=16	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.793
=16	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.793
18	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.788
19	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.787
20	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.784
21	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.779
=22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.777
=22	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.777
=24	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.763
=24	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.763
26	Chile`CHL`South America	0.761
27	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.756
28	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.753
29	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.743
30	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.741
31	United States`USA`Northern America	0.740
32	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.737
33	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.725
34	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.710
35	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.707
36	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.703
37	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.699
38	Peru`PER`South America	0.694
39	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.676
40	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.668
41	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.662
42	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.632
=43	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.623
=43	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.623
45	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.620
46	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.618
47	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.617
48	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.606
49	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.595
50	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.583
51	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.569
52	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.560
53	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.556
54	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.555
55	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.543
56	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.540
=57	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.535
=57	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.535
59	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.528
=60	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.517
=60	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.517
62	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.512
63	Colombia`COL`South America	0.511
64	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.506
65	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.505
66	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.503
67	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.497
68	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.488
69	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.484
70	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.480
71	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.477
72	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.459
73	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.446
74	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.445
75	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.439
76	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.428
=77	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.426
=77	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.426
79	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.421
80	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.420
81	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.415
82	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.413
83	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.412
84	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.411
85	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.410
86	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.402
87	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.401
88	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.393
89	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.392
90	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.376
91	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.364
92	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.360
93	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.352
94	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.340
=95	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.338
=95	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.338
97	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.335
98	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.330
99	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.327
100	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.325
101	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.324
102	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.318
103	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.317
104	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.314
105	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.309
106	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.301
107	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.288
=108	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.280
=108	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.280
110	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.276
111	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.267
112	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.264
113	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.255
114	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.248
115	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.247
=116	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.246
=116	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.246
118	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.244
119	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.241
120	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.240
121	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.233
122	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.229
123	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.226
124	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.214
125	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.202
126	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.201
=127	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.193
=127	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.193
129	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.186
130	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.184
=131	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.162
=131	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.162
133	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.158
134	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.153
135	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.148
=136	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.141
=136	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.141
=136	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.141
139	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.129
140	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.126
141	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.120
142	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.119
143	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.117
=144	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.116
=144	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.116
146	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.114
147	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.113
148	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.110
149	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.109
150	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.107
151	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.105
152	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.104
153	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.100
154	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.094
155	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.090
156	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.088
157	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.082
158	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.077
=159	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.066
=159	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.066
161	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.064
162	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.063
163	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.062
164	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.060
165	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.059
166	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.055
167	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.051
168	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.047
169	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.046
170	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.045
171	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.041
172	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.038
173	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.035
174	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.026
175	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.009

02In 2019

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.886
2Sweden0.866
3Switzerland0.860
4Norway0.852
5Estonia0.848

Lowest

176Eritrea0.009
175North Korea0.014
174Syria0.026
173Turkmenistan0.035
172Yemen0.038

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.393. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032018 → 2019

Since 2018

What changed between 2018 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
170values changed, of 176 in both
67 · 103rose · fell
6unchanged

Rose most

Armenia0.404 → 0.620+0.216
Maldives0.196 → 0.410+0.214
Ukraine0.244 → 0.318+0.074
Thailand0.110 → 0.184+0.074
Romania0.483 → 0.555+0.072

Fell most

Benin0.472 → 0.335−0.137
Bolivia0.341 → 0.241−0.100
Brazil0.608 → 0.528−0.080
Namibia0.562 → 0.512−0.050
Comoros0.176 → 0.129−0.047

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 2019.
158 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.141. 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-2019-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 (2019). Liberal Democracy Index, 2019 [data set], describing 2019. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2019

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2018
176 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2020
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