Data for 2016

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2016

Name: Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 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

V-Dem's measure of meritocratic appointment asks whether people are hired, promoted and fired in a country's civil service on the strength of their skills and merit, or through personal and political connections. It is an expert-coded estimate on an open-ended scale centred near zero, and a higher figure means more appointments on merit.

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2016 covers 176 countries. Singapore is highest, at 3.447; Eritrea is lowest, at -2.150. The middle country reads 0.358. Against 2015, 19 values changed (10 up, 9 down), the same countries are covered.

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Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration · Data for 2016

HighestSingapore

3.447

LowestEritrea

-2.150

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

176countries
1measure
2016the year it describes
174distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 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

Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2016: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3.447
2	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	2.773
3	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	2.768
4	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	2.691
5	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	2.357
6	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.340
7	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.323
8	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.222
9	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	2.152
10	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.149
11	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	2.148
12	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	2.126
13	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	2.117
14	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.051
15	France`FRA`Western Europe	1.985
16	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.969
17	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	1.959
18	United States`USA`Northern America	1.924
19	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	1.908
20	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	1.847
21	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	1.844
22	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.804
23	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.737
24	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	1.727
25	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.721
26	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.682
27	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	1.597
28	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	1.582
29	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	1.552
30	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.520
31	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.505
32	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	1.491
33	Chile`CHL`South America	1.444
34	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	1.399
35	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	1.363
36	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	1.332
37	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1.324
38	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.297
39	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.262
40	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.257
41	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	1.240
42	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.228
43	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	1.201
44	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1.137
45	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1.135
46	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	1.125
47	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	1.104
48	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	1.086
49	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.034
50	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	1.016
51	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.984
52	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.968
53	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.944
54	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.943
55	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.931
56	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.906
57	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.896
58	Colombia`COL`South America	0.876
59	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.802
60	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.772
61	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.755
62	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.742
63	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.736
64	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.713
65	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.711
66	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.696
67	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.694
68	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.655
69	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.611
70	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.607
=71	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.573
=71	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.573
73	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.566
74	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.556
75	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.544
76	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.537
77	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.510
78	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.508
79	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.499
80	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.498
81	Peru`PER`South America	0.473
82	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.471
83	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.467
84	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.426
85	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.418
86	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.410
87	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.390
88	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.365
89	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.350
90	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.326
91	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.325
92	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.300
93	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.298
94	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.296
95	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.286
96	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.282
97	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.270
98	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.250
99	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.238
100	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.215
101	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.202
102	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.160
103	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.128
104	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.115
105	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.095
106	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.090
107	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.054
=108	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.034
=108	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.034
110	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.029
111	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-0.052
112	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-0.054
113	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	-0.078
114	Paraguay`PRY`South America	-0.099
115	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	-0.149
116	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	-0.157
117	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-0.166
118	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	-0.174
119	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	-0.175
120	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-0.182
121	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-0.189
122	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	-0.204
123	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.219
124	Suriname`SUR`South America	-0.236
125	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.266
126	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	-0.299
127	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.316
128	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-0.343
129	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-0.345
130	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-0.399
131	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.406
132	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	-0.408
133	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	-0.435
134	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-0.462
135	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	-0.485
136	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-0.486
137	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	-0.506
138	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	-0.551
139	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-0.556
140	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.603
141	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-0.609
142	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-0.630
143	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-0.664
144	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.674
145	Honduras`HND`Central America	-0.686
146	Niger`NER`Western Africa	-0.724
147	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	-0.725
148	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.769
149	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.817
150	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-0.834
151	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-0.850
152	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	-0.892
153	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-0.903
154	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-0.996
155	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-1.050
156	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.096
157	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-1.130
158	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-1.167
159	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-1.218
160	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-1.278
161	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-1.310
162	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-1.337
163	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	-1.450
164	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-1.512
165	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-1.525
166	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-1.568
167	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-1.604
168	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-1.676
169	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-1.738
170	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-1.867
171	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.898
172	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.907
173	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	-1.909
174	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-1.964
175	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-1.986
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-2.150

02In 2016

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Singapore3.447
2Luxembourg2.773
3Estonia2.768
4Denmark2.691
5United Kingdom2.357

Lowest

176Eritrea-2.150
175Syria-1.986
174Azerbaijan-1.964
173South Sudan-1.909
172Tajikistan-1.907

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.358. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032015 → 2016

Since 2015

+0 / −0countries joined / left
19values changed, of 176 in both
10 · 9rose · fell
157unchanged

Rose most

Sri Lanka1.197 → 1.908+0.711
Bosnia and Herzegovina0.478 → 0.896+0.418
North Korea-0.069 → 0.325+0.394
Benin0.131 → 0.499+0.368
Myanmar0.574 → 0.931+0.357

Fell most

Poland0.937 → 0.300−0.637
Maldives1.118 → 0.508−0.610
Türkiye-0.056 → -0.551−0.495
Yemen-1.109 → -1.525−0.416
Armenia-0.323 → -0.725−0.402

04Caveats

Read before you use

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, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2016.
174 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.573. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 176 countries has every column.

05The files

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Licence in full

.csv
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176 rows · 4.9 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download meritocratic-appointment-2016-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-FullOthers-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2016). Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2016 [data set], describing 2016. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/meritocratic-appointment/2016

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2015
176 countries
The year after ›
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2017
176 countries
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Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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