Data for 2021

Physical Violence Index, 2021

Name: Physical Violence 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

Physical Violence Index, 2021 covers 176 countries on 3 measures. 2 countries share the highest reading, 0.989; North Korea is lowest, at 0.050. The middle country reads 0.825. Against 2020, 107 values changed (54 up, 53 down), the same countries are covered.

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Physical Violence Index · Data for 2021

Highest2 countries share it

0.989

LowestNorth Korea

0.050

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

176countries
3measures per country
2021the year it describes
152distinct 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, 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

Physical Violence Index, 2021: 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	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.988	3.953	3.896
4	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.987	3.935	3.912
5	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.986	3.947	3.888
=6	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.981	3.932	3.826
=6	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.981	3.929	3.825
8	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.978	3.899	3.827
=9	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.977	3.930	3.731
=9	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.977	3.810	3.892
11	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.976	3.930	3.752
12	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.975	3.917	3.742
=13	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.974	3.954	3.605
=13	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.974	3.893	3.783
15	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.971	3.929	3.663
16	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.970	3.954	3.536
17	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.969	3.940	3.587
=18	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.966	3.933	3.547
=18	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.966	3.758	3.815
20	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.965	3.951	3.440
=21	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.964	3.799	3.769
=21	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.964	3.934	3.510
=21	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.964	3.822	3.727
=24	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.961	3.958	3.352
=24	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.961	3.739	3.762
=24	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.961	3.894	3.576
27	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.956	3.942	3.340
28	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.954	3.922	3.365
=29	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.953	3.820	3.579
=29	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.953	3.687	3.739
=29	United States`USA`Northern America	0.953	3.912	3.392
=32	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.951	3.893	3.422
=32	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.951	3.863	3.495
34	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.944	3.722	3.612
35	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.942	3.906	3.255
36	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.941	3.946	3.066
37	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.938	3.816	3.399
38	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.937	3.860	3.270
39	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.936	3.893	3.194
40	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.934	3.691	3.524
41	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.928	3.794	3.310
42	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.926	3.877	3.126
43	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.923	3.685	3.419
=44	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.922	3.923	2.886
=44	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.922	3.806	3.255
46	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.921	3.569	3.526
=47	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.920	3.776	3.292
=47	Peru`PER`South America	0.920	3.821	3.172
49	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.919	3.680	3.366
50	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.914	3.850	3.030
51	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.913	3.451	3.550
=52	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.912	3.826	3.071
=52	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.912	3.573	3.398
54	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.911	3.606	3.384
=55	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.903	3.686	3.197
=55	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.903	3.811	2.988
57	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.902	3.390	3.518
58	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.898	3.756	3.067
59	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.897	3.741	3.066
60	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.896	3.683	3.155
=61	Chile`CHL`South America	0.895	3.556	3.313
=61	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.895	3.563	3.282
63	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.894	3.668	3.154
64	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.889	3.736	2.992
65	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.888	3.434	3.367
66	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.887	3.650	3.107
67	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.885	3.530	3.246
68	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.884	3.490	3.255
69	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.883	3.830	2.728
70	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.882	3.350	3.373
=71	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.870	3.663	2.925
=71	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.870	3.628	2.968
73	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.868	3.720	2.805
74	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.867	3.448	3.162
75	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.863	3.577	2.963
76	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.861	3.588	2.942
=77	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.859	3.535	3.004
=77	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.859	2.966	3.481
79	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.854	3.469	3.032
=80	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.852	3.774	2.497
=80	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.852	3.333	3.180
82	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.851	3.675	2.725
83	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.841	3.755	2.468
84	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.836	3.477	2.866
85	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.833	3.358	2.986
86	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.829	3.493	2.811
87	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.827	2.678	3.456
88	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.825	3.291	2.992
89	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.824	3.228	3.045
90	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.823	3.474	2.761
91	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.822	3.354	2.900
92	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.819	3.198	3.045
93	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.815	3.212	3.004
94	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.812	3.362	2.807
95	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.788	3.241	2.728
96	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.785	3.393	2.565
97	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.784	3.572	2.298
98	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.778	3.413	2.496
99	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.759	3.090	2.700
100	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.758	3.014	2.766
101	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.757	3.216	2.566
102	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.751	2.737	2.991
103	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.749	3.170	2.570
104	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.736	2.467	3.062
105	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.723	3.099	2.423
106	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.720	3.025	2.507
107	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.715	3.161	2.312
108	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.700	2.652	2.717
109	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.697	3.463	1.773
110	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.693	2.730	2.608
111	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.675	2.380	2.767
=112	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.648	2.395	2.621
=112	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.648	2.346	2.667
114	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.633	3.096	1.813
115	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.628	2.573	2.315
116	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.627	2.476	2.417
117	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.623	3.067	1.758
118	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.606	3.432	1.171
119	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.603	3.417	1.187
120	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.571	2.498	2.016
121	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.551	3.043	1.311
122	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.549	2.951	1.416
123	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.542	2.578	1.773
124	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.512	2.725	1.383
125	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.509	2.465	1.637
126	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.506	2.414	1.672
127	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.505	2.931	1.149
=128	Colombia`COL`South America	0.504	1.254	2.670
=128	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.504	2.082	1.976
130	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.472	3.199	0.669
131	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.461	2.110	1.650
132	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.451	2.448	1.274
133	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.450	1.736	1.931
134	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.446	1.986	1.690
=135	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.440	1.991	1.640
=135	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.440	3.100	0.622
137	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.413	1.800	1.606
138	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.404	1.677	1.652
139	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.388	2.390	0.948
140	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.385	2.413	0.894
141	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.379	1.862	1.346
142	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.323	1.304	1.470
143	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.321	1.315	1.442
144	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.318	1.426	1.314
145	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.309	1.272	1.364
146	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.295	1.439	1.144
147	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.294	1.202	1.317
148	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.270	1.347	1.035
149	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.267	1.030	1.298
150	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.248	0.917	1.233
151	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.224	1.451	0.651
152	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.217	1.258	0.734
153	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.210	0.728	1.198
154	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.204	1.116	0.748
155	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.191	1.659	0.324
156	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.187	1.340	0.484
157	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.185	0.943	0.743
=158	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.182	0.611	1.057
=158	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.182	1.762	0.237
160	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.170	0.908	0.624
161	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.150	0.779	0.611
162	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.148	1.120	0.385
163	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.146	0.721	0.643
164	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.145	0.981	0.443
165	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.136	0.481	0.785
166	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.131	1.118	0.279
167	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.126	0.655	0.507
168	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.121	0.442	0.707
169	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.112	0.478	0.556
170	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.110	0.784	0.290
171	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.099	0.480	0.441
172	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.084	0.462	0.311
173	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.066	0.340	0.264
174	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.058	0.229	0.300
175	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.054	0.440	0.122
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.050	0.339	0.145

02In 2021

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
3Norway0.988
4Finland0.987
5New Zealand0.986

Lowest

176North Korea0.050
175Syria0.054
174Yemen0.058
173Burundi0.066
172Afghanistan0.084

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.825. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Freedom from political killings (0–4)
HighestCyprus3.958
LowestYemen0.229
Middle country: 3.391
Freedom from torture (0–4)
HighestIceland3.929
LowestSyria0.122
Middle country: 2.839

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
107values changed, of 176 in both
54 · 53rose · fell
69unchanged

Rose most

Iraq0.188 → 0.309+0.121
Kenya0.525 → 0.627+0.102
Lesotho0.728 → 0.819+0.091
India0.563 → 0.648+0.085
Sierra Leone0.780 → 0.854+0.074

Fell most

Myanmar0.491 → 0.099−0.392
Afghanistan0.411 → 0.084−0.327
Eswatini0.410 → 0.145−0.265
El Salvador0.627 → 0.506−0.121
Lebanon0.743 → 0.628−0.115

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.
152 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.964. 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 · 6.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download physical-violence-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). Physical Violence Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/physical-violence/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Physical Violence Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Physical Violence Index, 2022
176 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