Data for 2021

Participatory Democracy Index, 2021

Name: Participatory 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

Participatory Democracy Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Switzerland is highest, at 0.798; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.323. Against 2020, 160 values changed (53 up, 107 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Participatory Democracy Index · Data for 2021

HighestSwitzerland

0.798

LowestEritrea

0.010

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
154distinct 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 Participatory 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

Participatory Democracy Index, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.798
2	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.694
=3	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.675
=3	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.675
5	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.672
6	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.649
7	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.646
8	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.640
9	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.639
10	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.638
11	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.634
12	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.630
13	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.628
14	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.622
15	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.621
=16	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.617
=16	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.617
18	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.614
19	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.612
20	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.610
21	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.607
22	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.606
23	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.601
24	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.595
=25	Chile`CHL`South America	0.592
=25	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.592
27	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.587
28	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.586
29	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.585
30	United States`USA`Northern America	0.583
31	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.580
32	Peru`PER`South America	0.553
33	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.547
34	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.534
35	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.532
36	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.530
37	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.528
38	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.526
=39	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.522
=39	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.522
41	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.507
42	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.506
43	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.502
44	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.494
45	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.489
46	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.478
47	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.474
48	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.473
49	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.469
50	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.464
51	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.456
52	Colombia`COL`South America	0.454
53	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.452
54	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.437
55	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.435
56	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.429
57	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.425
58	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.415
59	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.411
60	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.407
61	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.405
=62	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.399
=62	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.399
64	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.398
65	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.394
66	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.393
67	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.384
68	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.376
69	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.375
70	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.373
71	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.368
72	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.367
73	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.358
74	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.356
75	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.355
76	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.353
77	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.352
78	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.344
=79	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.341
=79	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.341
=81	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.335
=81	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.335
83	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.334
84	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.331
85	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.328
86	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.327
=87	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.324
=87	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.324
89	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.322
90	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.320
91	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.315
92	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.306
=93	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.303
=93	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.303
95	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.301
=96	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.292
=96	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.292
98	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.282
99	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.280
100	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.274
101	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.272
102	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.265
103	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.255
104	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.253
=105	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.252
=105	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.252
107	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.249
108	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.247
=109	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.246
=109	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.246
111	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.243
112	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.240
113	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.237
=114	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.233
=114	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.233
116	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.232
117	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.227
118	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.226
=119	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.204
=119	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.204
121	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.201
=122	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.198
=122	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.198
124	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.181
125	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.175
126	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.173
127	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.171
128	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.169
129	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.167
130	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.159
=131	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.156
=131	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.156
=131	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.156
134	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.153
135	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.143
136	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.134
137	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.125
138	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.120
139	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.117
140	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.115
141	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.113
=142	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.112
=142	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.112
144	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.109
145	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.107
146	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.105
147	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.104
=148	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.091
=148	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.091
150	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.089
151	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.087
152	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.081
153	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.078
=154	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.072
=154	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.072
156	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.070
157	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.067
158	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.063
159	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.061
160	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.060
161	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.057
162	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.055
163	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.054
=164	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.051
=164	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.051
=166	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.044
=166	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.044
168	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.043
169	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.038
170	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.037
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.032
172	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.031
173	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.030
174	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.023
175	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.020
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.010

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Switzerland0.798
2Denmark0.694
3Italyshared0.675
3Uruguayshared0.675
5New Zealand0.672

Lowest

176Eritrea0.010
175Qatar0.020
174Saudi Arabia0.023
173United Arab Emirates0.030
172Afghanistan0.031

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.323. “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
160values changed, of 176 in both
53 · 107rose · fell
16unchanged

Rose most

Bolivia0.243 → 0.429+0.186
Moldova0.447 → 0.530+0.083
Zambia0.238 → 0.292+0.054
Malawi0.359 → 0.398+0.039
Bulgaria0.444 → 0.478+0.034

Fell most

Myanmar0.260 → 0.078−0.182
Tunisia0.472 → 0.356−0.116
Afghanistan0.125 → 0.031−0.094
Mali0.259 → 0.173−0.086
El Salvador0.303 → 0.233−0.070

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.
154 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.156. 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 · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download participatory-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). Participatory Democracy Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/participatory-democracy/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Participatory Democracy Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Participatory Democracy Index, 2022
176 countries
All of them
Participatory Democracy Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions