Data for 1998

Physical Violence Index, 1998

Name: Physical Violence Index, 1998
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1998, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Physical Violence Index, 1998 covers 174 countries on 3 measures. 2 countries share the highest reading, 0.989; Afghanistan is lowest, at 0.022. The middle country reads 0.704. Against 1997, 30 values changed (16 up, 14 down), 1 country joined.

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Physical Violence Index · Data for 1998

Highest2 countries share it

0.989

LowestAfghanistan

0.022

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

174countries
3measures per country
1998the year it describes
156distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 11, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Physical Violence Index, 1998, 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 174 countries · select a heading to sort

Physical Violence Index, 1998: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
=1	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.989	3.940	3.929
=1	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.989	3.955	3.919
=3	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.988	3.954	3.901
=3	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.988	3.953	3.896
5	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.987	3.935	3.912
=6	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.986	3.954	3.858
=6	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.986	3.947	3.888
8	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.982	3.932	3.835
9	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.981	3.932	3.826
10	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.980	3.922	3.822
=11	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.979	3.940	3.771
=11	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.979	3.927	3.795
=13	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.977	3.810	3.892
=13	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.977	3.951	3.681
=15	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.975	3.917	3.742
=15	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.975	3.929	3.706
17	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.974	3.953	3.615
18	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.971	3.970	3.477
19	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.969	3.930	3.636
20	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.964	3.934	3.510
21	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.963	3.860	3.650
22	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.962	3.758	3.783
23	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.961	3.739	3.762
24	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.960	3.844	3.639
25	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.957	3.766	3.699
=26	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.955	3.899	3.468
=26	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.955	3.898	3.448
=28	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.953	3.906	3.414
=28	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.953	3.894	3.418
30	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.952	3.808	3.603
31	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.949	3.942	3.199
=32	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.948	3.676	3.681
=32	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.948	3.930	3.243
=32	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.948	3.729	3.638
35	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.945	3.855	3.424
36	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.944	3.876	3.327
=37	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.942	3.893	3.291
=37	United States`USA`Northern America	0.942	3.801	3.485
39	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.941	3.812	3.445
40	Chile`CHL`South America	0.939	3.851	3.345
41	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.938	3.877	3.255
42	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.933	3.732	3.458
43	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.932	3.806	3.352
44	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.926	3.717	3.410
45	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.921	3.731	3.325
46	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.920	3.434	3.639
47	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.919	3.839	3.112
48	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.913	3.571	3.427
49	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.903	3.549	3.366
50	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.900	3.255	3.593
=51	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.897	3.679	3.160
=51	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.897	3.610	3.246
53	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.892	3.811	2.855
54	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.886	3.814	2.826
55	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.876	3.478	3.186
56	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.875	3.528	3.125
57	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.870	3.473	3.168
58	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.866	3.256	3.344
59	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.852	3.394	3.091
60	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.847	3.708	2.615
61	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.845	3.634	2.717
62	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.844	3.375	3.051
63	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.843	3.340	3.058
64	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.835	3.448	2.898
65	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.831	3.628	2.581
66	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.830	3.186	3.128
67	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.827	3.328	2.961
68	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.823	3.210	3.047
69	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.822	3.437	2.814
70	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.819	3.140	3.109
71	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.811	3.343	2.815
72	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.799	3.339	2.731
73	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.798	2.905	3.122
74	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.792	3.428	2.568
75	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.789	3.334	2.663
76	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.788	3.032	2.965
77	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.776	2.727	3.138
78	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.764	3.395	2.399
79	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.759	3.317	2.450
80	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.739	3.428	2.164
81	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.738	3.087	2.539
82	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.737	3.463	2.053
83	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.726	2.888	2.696
84	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.713	2.980	2.511
85	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.710	3.177	2.274
86	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.709	2.941	2.500
87	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.708	2.984	2.443
=88	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.699	2.545	2.802
=88	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.699	3.339	1.958
90	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.691	2.947	2.395
91	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.687	2.649	2.617
92	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.685	2.331	2.874
93	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.683	2.937	2.349
=94	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.675	3.106	2.103
=94	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.675	2.824	2.437
96	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.664	2.659	2.463
97	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.644	3.205	1.760
98	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.618	3.597	1.015
99	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.611	2.651	2.146
100	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.610	3.208	1.511
101	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.607	2.632	2.125
=102	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.600	2.591	2.134
=102	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.600	2.378	2.314
104	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.595	2.126	2.503
105	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.588	2.621	2.023
106	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.574	2.515	2.040
107	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.565	2.814	1.662
108	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.553	2.912	1.473
109	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.550	2.123	2.226
110	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.549	2.730	1.631
111	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.548	2.648	1.710
112	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.543	3.244	1.058
113	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.531	2.425	1.855
114	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.528	2.820	1.449
115	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.524	2.083	2.092
116	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.494	3.287	0.713
=117	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.484	1.293	2.560
=117	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.484	2.437	1.500
119	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.444	1.985	1.657
120	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.443	1.549	2.079
121	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.441	1.966	1.661
122	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.440	2.609	1.067
123	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.433	1.629	1.920
124	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.428	2.338	1.231
125	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.421	1.550	1.888
126	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.414	2.023	1.403
127	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.395	1.795	1.496
128	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.392	2.176	1.168
129	Colombia`COL`South America	0.389	1.572	1.654
130	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.377	1.296	1.835
131	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.376	2.204	1.012
132	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.374	1.560	1.570
133	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.364	1.856	1.223
134	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.357	1.614	1.405
135	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.353	1.339	1.617
136	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.339	1.933	1.044
137	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.333	2.718	0.424
138	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.329	1.999	0.888
139	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.323	1.697	1.111
140	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.314	1.752	0.993
141	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.311	1.504	1.181
142	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.292	1.278	1.238
143	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.280	1.458	1.003
144	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.258	1.894	0.556
145	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.256	1.003	1.248
146	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.250	1.057	1.143
147	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.225	1.038	0.934
=148	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.223	0.699	1.288
=148	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.223	1.270	0.764
150	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.221	0.976	1.009
151	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.215	0.513	1.498
152	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.206	0.903	0.954
153	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.191	1.223	0.583
154	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.178	0.607	0.999
=155	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.173	0.952	0.634
=155	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.173	1.258	0.446
157	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.168	0.298	1.390
158	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.155	0.892	0.551
159	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.151	0.502	0.909
160	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.150	0.766	0.643
161	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.144	0.866	0.493
162	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.131	1.085	0.301
163	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.130	0.310	0.966
164	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.123	0.354	0.818
165	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.114	0.328	0.786
166	Peru`PER`South America	0.109	0.562	0.428
167	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.103	0.757	0.272
168	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.099	0.487	0.432
169	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.096	0.560	0.365
170	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.094	0.680	0.259
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.083	0.930	0.104
172	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.057	0.363	0.175
173	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.030	0.107	0.145
174	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.022	0.072	0.099

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

1Icelandshared0.989
1Swedenshared0.989
3Denmarkshared0.988
3Norwayshared0.988
5Finland0.987

Lowest

174Afghanistan0.022
173North Korea0.030
172Iraq0.057
171Turkmenistan0.083
170Syria0.094

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.704. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Freedom from political killings (0–4)
HighestCosta Rica3.970
LowestAfghanistan0.072
Middle country: 3.060
Freedom from torture (0–4)
HighestIceland3.929
LowestAfghanistan0.099
Middle country: 2.457

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
30values changed, of 173 in both
16 · 14rose · fell
143unchanged

Rose most

Cambodia0.252 → 0.374+0.122
Nigeria0.131 → 0.225+0.094
Guinea0.276 → 0.357+0.081
Iran0.142 → 0.215+0.073
Cameroon0.479 → 0.548+0.069

Fell most

Uzbekistan0.485 → 0.329−0.156
Mongolia0.874 → 0.798−0.076
Serbia0.670 → 0.595−0.075
Solomon Islands0.891 → 0.822−0.069
Croatia0.892 → 0.844−0.048

+ Montenegro

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 1998.
156 distinct values among 174
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.948. 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 174 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
174 rows · 6.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download physical-violence-1998-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 (1998). Physical Violence Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/physical-violence/1998

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Physical Violence Index, 1997
173 countries
The year after ›
Physical Violence Index, 1999
175 countries
All of them
Physical Violence Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions