Data for 2024
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2024
2024, 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, 2024 covers 176 countries. Singapore is highest, at 2.876; Belarus is lowest, at -2.442. The middle country reads 0.354. Against 2023, 71 values changed (30 up, 41 down), the same countries are covered.
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration · Data for 2024
HighestSingapore
2.876LowestBelarus
-2.442Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.
01Position · derived
The table
Every country and every column of Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2024, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.
Showing 25 of 176 countries · select a heading to sort
| derived | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SGPSouth-eastern Asia | 2.876 |
| 2 | ESTNorthern Europe | 2.768 |
| 3 | DEUWestern Europe | 2.743 |
| 4 | DNKNorthern Europe | 2.691 |
| 5 | ISRWestern Asia | 2.440 |
| 6 | LUXWestern Europe | 2.374 |
| 7 | GBRNorthern Europe | 2.357 |
| 8 | KOREastern Asia | 2.326 |
| 9 | NORNorthern Europe | 2.323 |
| 10 | CZEEastern Europe | 2.246 |
| 11 | LVANorthern Europe | 2.171 |
| 12 | AUSAustralia and New Zealand | 2.150 |
| 13 | NLDWestern Europe | 2.148 |
| 14 | LKASouthern Asia | 2.111 |
| 15 | IRLNorthern Europe | 2.051 |
| 16 | CHLSouth America | 2.012 |
| 17 | FRAWestern Europe | 1.985 |
| 18 | SWENorthern Europe | 1.959 |
| 19 | URYSouth America | 1.937 |
| 20 | ISLNorthern Europe | 1.891 |
| 21 | BTNSouthern Asia | 1.817 |
| 22 | JPNEastern Asia | 1.737 |
| 23 | BGDSouthern Asia | 1.735 |
| 24 | AREWestern Asia | 1.718 |
| 25 | USANorthern America | 1.717 |
| 26 | NZLAustralia and New Zealand | 1.677 |
| 27 | CANNorthern America | 1.660 |
| 28 | ESPSouthern Europe | 1.639 |
| 29 | TWNEastern Asia | 1.536 |
| 30 | FINNorthern Europe | 1.520 |
| 31 | MDVSouthern Asia | 1.503 |
| 32 | BGREastern Europe | 1.487 |
| 33 | LTUNorthern Europe | 1.450 |
| 34 | SYCEastern Africa | 1.401 |
| 35 | BELWestern Europe | 1.399 |
| 36 | HKGEastern Asia | 1.393 |
| 37 | THASouth-eastern Asia | 1.366 |
| 38 | CHEWestern Europe | 1.363 |
| 39 | BRASouth America | 1.345 |
| 40 | CRICentral America | 1.325 |
| 41 | GMBWestern Africa | 1.270 |
| 42 | MYSSouth-eastern Asia | 1.241 |
| 43 | MNESouthern Europe | 1.231 |
| 44 | BRBCaribbean | 1.201 |
| 45 | JAMCaribbean | 1.137 |
| 46 | CYPWestern Asia | 1.097 |
| 47 | SVNSouthern Europe | 1.085 |
| 48 | GRCSouthern Europe | 1.069 |
| 49 | PRKEastern Asia | 1.065 |
| 50 | ITASouthern Europe | 1.036 |
| 51 | MLTSouthern Europe | 1.029 |
| 52 | AUTWestern Europe | 1.009 |
| 53 | BIHSouthern Europe | 0.935 |
| 54 | BENWestern Africa | 0.925 |
| 55 | NAMSouthern Africa | 0.847 |
| 56 | INDSouthern Asia | 0.844 |
| 57 | ZMBEastern Africa | 0.827 |
| 58 | BFAWestern Africa | 0.811 |
| 59 | ARGSouth America | 0.774 |
| 60 | FJIMelanesia | 0.765 |
| 61 | MARNorthern Africa | 0.755 |
| =62 | SLBMelanesia | 0.754 |
| =62 | UGAEastern Africa | 0.754 |
| 64 | NPLSouthern Asia | 0.747 |
| 65 | PHLSouth-eastern Asia | 0.710 |
| 66 | BWASouthern Africa | 0.707 |
| 67 | SENWestern Africa | 0.696 |
| 68 | PRTSouthern Europe | 0.677 |
| 69 | ZAFSouthern Africa | 0.669 |
| 70 | NGAWestern Africa | 0.661 |
| 71 | VUTMelanesia | 0.651 |
| 72 | TTOCaribbean | 0.650 |
| 73 | PNGMelanesia | 0.639 |
| 74 | POLEastern Europe | 0.631 |
| 75 | SRBSouthern Europe | 0.625 |
| 76 | JORWestern Asia | 0.609 |
| 77 | DOMCaribbean | 0.575 |
| 78 | COLSouth America | 0.570 |
| 79 | TZAEastern Africa | 0.515 |
| 80 | HUNEastern Europe | 0.508 |
| 81 | XKXSouthern Europe | 0.490 |
| 82 | ZWEEastern Africa | 0.436 |
| 83 | PANCentral America | 0.418 |
| 84 | BOLSouth America | 0.413 |
| 85 | KENEastern Africa | 0.393 |
| 86 | OMNWestern Asia | 0.385 |
| 87 | MLIWestern Africa | 0.361 |
| 88 | RUSEastern Europe | 0.356 |
| 89 | IRNSouthern Asia | 0.352 |
| 90 | VNMSouth-eastern Asia | 0.339 |
| 91 | CHNEastern Asia | 0.321 |
| 92 | PERSouth America | 0.298 |
| 93 | MUSEastern Africa | 0.296 |
| 94 | DZANorthern Africa | 0.276 |
| 95 | TUNNorthern Africa | 0.252 |
| 96 | KAZCentral Asia | 0.251 |
| 97 | MWIEastern Africa | 0.248 |
| 98 | IDNSouth-eastern Asia | 0.225 |
| 99 | COMEastern Africa | 0.184 |
| 100 | PAKSouthern Asia | 0.183 |
| 101 | SVKEastern Europe | 0.181 |
| 102 | TLSSouth-eastern Asia | 0.139 |
| 103 | KGZCentral Asia | 0.128 |
| 104 | SomalilandXSLEastern Africa | 0.116 |
| 105 | RWAEastern Africa | 0.108 |
| 106 | SURSouth America | 0.059 |
| 107 | GTMCentral America | 0.050 |
| 108 | TGOWestern Africa | 0.041 |
| 109 | LSOSouthern Africa | 0.009 |
| 110 | NERWestern Africa | -0.010 |
| 111 | KWTWestern Asia | -0.016 |
| 112 | GHAWestern Africa | -0.051 |
| 113 | SWZSouthern Africa | -0.062 |
| 114 | AGOMiddle Africa | -0.076 |
| 115 | DJIEastern Africa | -0.098 |
| 116 | LBRWestern Africa | -0.123 |
| 117 | LAOSouth-eastern Asia | -0.161 |
| 118 | GUYSouth America | -0.164 |
| 119 | CPVWestern Africa | -0.174 |
| 120 | SAUWestern Asia | -0.246 |
| 121 | HRVSouthern Europe | -0.278 |
| 122 | UZBCentral Asia | -0.281 |
| 123 | COGMiddle Africa | -0.287 |
| 124 | HNDCentral America | -0.307 |
| 125 | GABMiddle Africa | -0.337 |
| 126 | HTICaribbean | -0.379 |
| 127 | MEXCentral America | -0.401 |
| 128 | STPMiddle Africa | -0.431 |
| 129 | SLEWestern Africa | -0.454 |
| 130 | MKDSouthern Europe | -0.463 |
| 131 | GEOWestern Asia | -0.507 |
| 132 | BHRWestern Asia | -0.521 |
| 133 | CIVWestern Africa | -0.528 |
| 134 | MDGEastern Africa | -0.551 |
| 135 | MOZEastern Africa | -0.603 |
| 136 | AZEWestern Asia | -0.622 |
| 137 | MDAEastern Europe | -0.673 |
| 138 | GNBWestern Africa | -0.688 |
| 139 | IRQWestern Asia | -0.690 |
| 140 | MRTWestern Africa | -0.708 |
| 141 | ETHEastern Africa | -0.728 |
| 142 | KHMSouth-eastern Asia | -0.735 |
| 143 | EGYNorthern Africa | -0.752 |
| 144 | TCDMiddle Africa | -0.769 |
| 145 | TURWestern Asia | -0.815 |
| 146 | TJKCentral Asia | -0.835 |
| 147 | PRYSouth America | -0.902 |
| 148 | ARMWestern Asia | -0.952 |
| 149 | ALBSouthern Europe | -0.957 |
| 150 | ROUEastern Europe | -0.972 |
| 151 | CODMiddle Africa | -0.986 |
| 152 | MNGEastern Asia | -1.071 |
| 153 | LBNWestern Asia | -1.099 |
| 154 | MMRSouth-eastern Asia | -1.106 |
| 155 | GINWestern Africa | -1.123 |
| 156 | UKREastern Europe | -1.166 |
| 157 | SOMEastern Africa | -1.174 |
| 158 | ECUSouth America | -1.185 |
| 159 | CAFMiddle Africa | -1.218 |
| 160 | CMRMiddle Africa | -1.276 |
| 161 | QATWestern Asia | -1.321 |
| 162 | SSDEastern Africa | -1.337 |
| 163 | TKMCentral Asia | -1.361 |
| 164 | YEMWestern Asia | -1.382 |
| 165 | SYRWestern Asia | -1.513 |
| 166 | GNQMiddle Africa | -1.565 |
| 167 | CUBCaribbean | -1.568 |
| 168 | AFGSouthern Asia | -1.628 |
| 169 | BDIEastern Africa | -1.676 |
| 170 | SLVCentral America | -1.711 |
| 171 | VENSouth America | -1.761 |
| 172 | SDNNorthern Africa | -1.780 |
| 173 | ERIEastern Africa | -1.832 |
| 174 | NICCentral America | -1.859 |
| 175 | LBYNorthern Africa | -2.358 |
| 176 | BLREastern Europe | -2.442 |
02In 2024
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline.
032023 → 2024
Since 2023
- +0 / −0countries joined / left
- 71values changed, of 176 in both
- 30 · 41rose · fell
- 105unchanged
Rose most
Bangladesh0.176 → 1.735+1.559
Sri Lanka0.996 → 2.111+1.115
Guatemala-0.761 → 0.050+0.811
North Korea0.318 → 1.065+0.747
Israel1.748 → 2.440+0.692
04Caveats
Read before you use
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 2024.
175 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.754. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 176 countries has every column.
05The files
Download and cite
- .csv
For a spreadsheet or code
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-2024-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 (2024). Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2024 [data set], describing 2024. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/meritocratic-appointment/2024
0636 held
Other years
‹ The year before
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2023176 countries
The year after ›
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration, 2025176 countries
All of them
Meritocratic Appointment in the State Administration: every year36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country