Data for 2021

Liberal Democracy Index, 2021

Name: Liberal Democracy Index, 2021
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.882; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.367. Against 2020, 159 values changed (54 up, 105 down), the same countries are covered.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2021

HighestDenmark

0.882

LowestEritrea

0.010

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

176countries
1measure
2021the 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, 2021, 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, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.882
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.866
3	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.853
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.851
=5	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.843
=5	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.843
7	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.835
8	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.833
9	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.827
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.814
11	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.813
12	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.812
13	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.810
=14	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.789
=14	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.789
16	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.785
17	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.784
18	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.781
19	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.779
20	Chile`CHL`South America	0.777
=21	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.775
=21	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.775
23	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.774
24	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.757
25	United States`USA`Northern America	0.756
26	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.749
27	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.745
28	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.740
29	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.736
30	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.732
31	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.711
32	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.698
33	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.691
34	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.686
35	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.676
36	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.673
37	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.672
38	Peru`PER`South America	0.660
39	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.653
40	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.641
=41	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.639
=41	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.639
=41	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.639
44	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.634
45	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.630
46	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.624
47	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.618
48	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.611
49	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.609
50	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.605
51	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.558
=52	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.554
=52	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.554
54	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.549
55	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.544
56	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.532
57	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.531
58	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.522
59	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.506
=60	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.501
=60	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.501
62	Colombia`COL`South America	0.499
63	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.498
64	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.495
65	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.494
66	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.491
67	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.484
68	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.482
69	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.477
70	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.464
71	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.456
=72	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.454
=72	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.454
74	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.438
75	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.436
76	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.432
77	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.427
=78	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.424
=78	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.424
=80	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.423
=80	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.423
82	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.417
83	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.408
84	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.401
85	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.398
86	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.393
87	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.389
88	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.371
89	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.362
90	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.359
91	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.355
92	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.346
93	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.339
94	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.335
95	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.331
96	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.329
97	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.328
98	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.324
99	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.323
100	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.321
101	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.307
102	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.300
103	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.274
=104	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.271
=104	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.271
106	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.269
107	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.262
108	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.256
109	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.250
110	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.249
=111	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.248
=111	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.248
113	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.244
114	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.240
115	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.237
116	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.236
117	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.233
118	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.218
119	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.214
120	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.204
121	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.199
122	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.195
123	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.194
124	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.187
125	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.180
126	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.176
127	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.168
128	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.156
129	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.155
130	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.151
=131	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.140
=131	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.140
133	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.139
134	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.136
135	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.129
136	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.124
=137	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.121
=137	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.121
139	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.120
=140	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.116
=140	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.116
142	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.113
143	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.111
144	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.110
145	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.109
146	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.104
147	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.098
148	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.095
149	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.094
150	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.092
151	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.091
152	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.084
153	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.081
154	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.078
155	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.067
156	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.066
157	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.063
158	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.059
159	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.058
=160	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.056
=160	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.056
162	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.054
=163	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.051
=163	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.051
165	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.045
166	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.044
167	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.041
168	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.039
169	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.035
170	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.034
=171	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.033
=171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.033
=171	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.033
174	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.020
175	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.014
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.010

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.882
2Sweden0.866
3Estonia0.853
4Switzerland0.851
5Costa Ricashared0.843

Lowest

176Eritrea0.010
175North Korea0.014
174Myanmar0.020
171Yemenshared0.033
171Turkmenistanshared0.033

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.367. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
159values changed, of 176 in both
54 · 105rose · fell
17unchanged

Rose most

Bolivia0.209 → 0.362+0.153
Moldova0.518 → 0.618+0.100
Malawi0.462 → 0.522+0.060
Seychelles0.575 → 0.634+0.059
Bulgaria0.501 → 0.549+0.048

Fell most

Myanmar0.252 → 0.020−0.232
El Salvador0.316 → 0.156−0.160
Tunisia0.623 → 0.464−0.159
Afghanistan0.167 → 0.041−0.126
Mali0.254 → 0.155−0.099

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 2021.
157 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.639. 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-2021-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 (2021). Liberal Democracy Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2022
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