Data for 2020

Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 2020

2020, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 2020 covers 176 countries. Nicaragua is highest, at 0.980; Denmark is lowest, at 0.007. The middle country reads 0.446. Against 2019, 170 values changed (79 up, 91 down), the same countries are covered.

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Neopatrimonial Rule Index · Data for 2020

HighestNicaragua

0.980

LowestDenmark

0.007

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end. A higher value is the worse result.

176countries
1measure
2020the year it describes
157distinct 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 Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 2020, 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

Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 2020: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.980
2	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.977
3	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.973
=4	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	0.965
=4	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	0.965
6	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.964
7	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	0.959
8	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.951
9	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	0.946
10	YemenYEMWestern Asia	0.941
11	EritreaERIEastern Africa	0.939
12	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.935
13	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.928
14	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	0.927
15	BelarusBLREastern Europe	0.915
16	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	0.911
17	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	0.888
18	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.875
19	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.865
20	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	0.864
21	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.862
22	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	0.853
23	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0.849
=24	GuineaGINWestern Africa	0.848
=24	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	0.848
26	CubaCUBCaribbean	0.839
27	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	0.837
28	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	0.836
29	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	0.828
30	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	0.827
31	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.822
32	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.820
33	HaitiHTICaribbean	0.817
34	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.806
35	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	0.790
36	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.786
37	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	0.783
=38	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.774
=38	QatarQATWestern Asia	0.774
40	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.773
41	TogoTGOWestern Africa	0.772
42	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	0.765
43	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	0.759
44	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.757
45	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	0.722
46	SomalilandXSLEastern Africa	0.716
47	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	0.706
48	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	0.697
49	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.682
50	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.680
51	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	0.674
52	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	0.672
=53	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	0.667
=53	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	0.667
55	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	0.666
56	UkraineUKREastern Europe	0.649
57	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	0.647
58	BoliviaBOLSouth America	0.642
59	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	0.640
=60	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.634
=60	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	0.634
=62	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	0.626
=62	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.626
64	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.623
=65	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.607
=65	MaliMLIWestern Africa	0.607
67	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	0.605
68	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.591
69	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.589
70	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.579
71	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.570
72	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.566
73	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.560
74	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.550
75	OmanOMNWestern Asia	0.549
76	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.543
77	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.509
78	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.500
79	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	0.483
80	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	0.482
81	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.475
82	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.474
83	GuyanaGUYSouth America	0.471
84	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.470
85	NigerNERWestern Africa	0.460
86	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.451
=87	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.447
=87	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	0.447
89	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	0.445
=90	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.444
=90	PanamaPANCentral America	0.444
92	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.433
93	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.430
94	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.419
95	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	0.412
96	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	0.399
97	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.397
=98	JordanJORWestern Asia	0.396
=98	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	0.396
100	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.392
101	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.381
102	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.379
103	KenyaKENEastern Africa	0.371
104	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.357
105	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.356
106	BrazilBRASouth America	0.342
107	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.341
108	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	0.338
109	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.335
110	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	0.331
111	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	0.325
112	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	0.324
113	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.321
114	SenegalSENWestern Africa	0.319
115	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	0.317
116	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.312
117	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.283
118	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.282
=119	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.275
=119	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	0.275
=121	ColombiaCOLSouth America	0.273
=121	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	0.273
123	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	0.271
124	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	0.264
125	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.233
126	PeruPERSouth America	0.221
127	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.217
128	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.204
129	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.202
130	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0.192
131	SurinameSURSouth America	0.184
132	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.173
133	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.169
134	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.154
=135	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.145
=135	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.145
137	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.140
138	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	0.131
139	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.130
140	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.129
141	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.125
142	TaiwanTWNEastern Asia	0.121
143	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	0.115
144	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.112
145	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.108
146	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.098
147	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.096
148	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.093
149	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.092
150	United StatesUSANorthern America	0.082
151	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.076
152	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.072
=153	Costa RicaCRICentral America	0.069
=153	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.069
=155	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.061
=155	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.061
=157	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.059
=157	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.059
159	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.052
160	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.050
161	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.047
162	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.044
=163	ChileCHLSouth America	0.042
=163	UruguayURYSouth America	0.042
165	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.038
=166	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.037
=166	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.037
168	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.026
169	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.021
170	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.019
171	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.018
172	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.017
=173	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.015
=173	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.015
175	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.012
176	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.007

02In 2020

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Nicaragua0.980
2Venezuela0.977
3Azerbaijan0.973
4Equatorial Guineashared0.965
4North Koreashared0.965

Lowest

176Denmark0.007
175Sweden0.012
173Norwayshared0.015
173Finlandshared0.015
172New Zealand0.017

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.446. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032019 → 2020

Since 2019

What changed between 2019 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
170values changed, of 176 in both
79 · 91rose · fell
6unchanged

Rose most

Sri Lanka0.292 → 0.509+0.217
Hong Kong0.219 → 0.324+0.105
El Salvador0.439 → 0.543+0.104
Malaysia0.355 → 0.444+0.089
Côte d’Ivoire0.592 → 0.672+0.080

Fell most

Dominican Republic0.662 → 0.474−0.188
Romania0.359 → 0.202−0.157
Moldova0.451 → 0.331−0.120
Malta0.318 → 0.233−0.085
Sierra Leone0.564 → 0.483−0.081

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.

The site’s method

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 2020.
157 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.965. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the worse result.
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 neopatrimonial-rule-2020-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. Share, adapt and use commercially with credit — and anything you publish that adapts it must carry the same licence.

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2020). Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/neopatrimonial-rule/2020

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 2019
176 countries
The year after ›
Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 2021
176 countries
All of them
Neopatrimonial Rule Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions