Data for 2023

Physical Violence Index, 2023

Name: Physical Violence Index, 2023
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2023, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Physical Violence Index, 2023 covers 176 countries on 3 measures. 2 countries share the highest reading, 0.989; North Korea is lowest, at 0.035. The middle country reads 0.789. Against 2022, 98 values changed (50 up, 48 down), the same countries are covered.

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Physical Violence Index · Data for 2023

Highest2 countries share it

0.989

LowestNorth Korea

0.035

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

176countries
3measures per country
2023the year it describes
148distinct 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, 2023, 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, 2023: 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	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.985	3.940	3.872
=7	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.981	3.932	3.826
=7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.981	3.929	3.825
9	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.980	3.917	3.836
10	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.977	3.810	3.892
11	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.976	3.930	3.752
=12	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.974	3.954	3.605
=12	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.974	3.893	3.783
=12	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.974	3.894	3.784
15	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.973	3.906	3.744
16	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.971	3.929	3.663
=17	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.970	3.958	3.534
=17	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.970	3.954	3.536
19	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.967	3.899	3.673
20	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.965	3.951	3.437
=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	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.963	3.893	3.605
25	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.962	3.930	3.475
26	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.961	3.739	3.762
27	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.958	3.946	3.358
28	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.956	3.883	3.524
29	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.954	3.922	3.365
=30	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.951	3.893	3.422
=30	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.951	3.868	3.495
32	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.950	3.942	3.218
33	United States`USA`Northern America	0.949	3.894	3.392
34	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.943	3.860	3.359
=35	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.941	3.573	3.695
=35	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.941	3.469	3.786
37	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.938	3.816	3.399
38	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.937	3.715	3.526
=39	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.936	3.806	3.417
=39	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.936	3.756	3.481
41	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.935	3.850	3.273
42	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.934	3.850	3.279
43	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.933	3.865	3.197
44	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.931	3.799	3.351
45	Chile`CHL`South America	0.929	3.747	3.423
46	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.928	3.794	3.310
47	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.926	3.877	3.126
=48	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.922	3.745	3.331
=48	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.922	3.923	2.886
50	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.921	3.534	3.534
51	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.919	3.680	3.366
52	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.917	3.510	3.547
53	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.916	3.758	3.214
54	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.912	3.826	3.071
55	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.903	3.811	2.988
56	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.902	3.390	3.518
=57	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.898	3.707	3.128
=57	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.898	3.536	3.367
=59	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.897	3.588	3.271
=59	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.897	3.596	3.264
=59	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.897	3.741	3.066
62	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.896	3.732	3.048
63	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.893	3.439	3.381
64	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.891	3.830	2.793
=65	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.884	3.652	3.085
=65	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.884	3.774	2.832
=65	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.884	3.529	3.221
=65	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.884	3.551	3.183
69	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.870	3.663	2.925
70	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.865	3.628	2.916
71	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.858	3.856	2.402
72	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.851	3.675	2.725
=73	Peru`PER`South America	0.849	3.366	3.091
=73	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.849	3.501	2.914
=75	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.834	3.415	2.907
=75	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.834	3.356	3.004
77	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.832	3.101	3.216
78	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.829	3.419	2.893
79	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.824	3.228	3.045
=80	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.823	3.474	2.761
=80	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.823	3.050	3.180
82	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.818	3.404	2.811
83	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.815	3.563	2.575
84	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.812	2.966	3.175
=85	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.806	3.318	2.811
=85	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.806	2.880	3.210
87	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.797	3.331	2.727
88	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.790	3.283	2.713
89	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.787	3.224	2.775
90	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.783	3.222	2.759
=91	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.782	3.014	2.930
=91	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.782	3.057	2.900
93	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.781	3.368	2.569
94	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.776	3.432	2.430
95	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.769	3.022	2.837
96	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.761	2.951	2.857
=97	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.755	2.792	2.951
=97	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.755	3.076	2.706
99	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.753	3.435	2.244
100	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.751	2.737	2.991
101	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.749	2.985	2.754
102	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.746	3.413	2.237
103	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.738	2.565	2.992
104	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.724	2.955	2.621
105	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.722	3.245	2.244
106	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.715	3.161	2.312
107	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.714	2.850	2.629
108	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.713	3.449	1.892
109	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.712	2.748	2.717
110	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.705	2.503	2.873
111	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.688	2.881	2.441
112	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.686	3.009	2.269
113	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.682	2.676	2.585
114	Colombia`COL`South America	0.678	2.207	2.934
115	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.653	2.634	2.433
116	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.652	3.250	1.758
117	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.633	3.096	1.813
=118	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.619	2.730	2.136
=118	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.619	2.510	2.352
120	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.567	3.035	1.435
121	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.555	2.875	1.526
122	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.532	1.935	2.301
=123	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.512	3.451	0.624
=123	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.512	2.725	1.383
125	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.509	2.465	1.637
126	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.504	2.082	1.976
127	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.494	2.846	1.187
128	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.483	2.944	1.017
129	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.467	2.790	1.054
130	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.460	2.316	1.464
131	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.450	2.274	1.459
132	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.449	2.061	1.570
133	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.447	1.918	1.787
134	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.425	2.445	1.120
135	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.413	1.800	1.606
136	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.404	1.677	1.652
=137	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.395	2.920	0.548
=137	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.395	1.771	1.526
139	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.384	1.878	1.372
140	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.383	1.609	1.602
141	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.379	1.862	1.346
142	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.344	2.336	0.717
143	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.332	1.545	1.322
144	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.331	1.747	1.133
145	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.323	1.304	1.470
146	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.322	1.340	1.393
147	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.305	1.324	1.314
148	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.300	1.373	1.205
149	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.258	1.201	1.063
150	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.257	1.662	0.686
151	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.230	1.323	0.770
152	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.223	1.165	0.847
153	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.211	0.758	1.132
154	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.209	1.320	0.611
155	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.197	0.848	0.923
156	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.191	1.659	0.324
157	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.190	0.796	0.934
158	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.186	1.692	0.303
159	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.181	0.606	1.021
160	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.179	1.084	0.592
161	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.178	1.042	0.593
162	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.167	1.036	0.566
163	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.166	0.567	0.957
164	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.163	0.545	0.959
165	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.141	1.181	0.279
166	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.134	0.793	0.476
167	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.129	0.721	0.484
=168	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.108	0.461	0.530
=168	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.108	0.905	0.250
=168	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.108	0.764	0.295
171	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.107	0.490	0.507
172	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.099	0.480	0.441
173	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.079	0.164	0.643
174	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.041	0.350	0.081
175	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.036	0.326	0.072
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.035	0.156	0.145

02In 2023

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 Korea0.035
175Afghanistan0.036
174Nicaragua0.041
173Chad0.079
172Myanmar0.099

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.789. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

Freedom from political killings (0–4)
HighestCyprus3.958
LowestNorth Korea0.156
Middle country: 3.301
Freedom from torture (0–4)
HighestIceland3.929
LowestAfghanistan0.072
Middle country: 2.822

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

What changed between 2022 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
98values changed, of 176 in both
50 · 48rose · fell
78unchanged

Rose most

Brazil0.440 → 0.761+0.321
Somalia0.289 → 0.447+0.158
Kenya0.627 → 0.755+0.128
El Salvador0.356 → 0.483+0.127
Thailand0.270 → 0.384+0.114

Fell most

Togo0.720 → 0.450−0.270
Gabon0.949 → 0.787−0.162
Burkina Faso0.841 → 0.686−0.155
Cambodia0.312 → 0.163−0.149
Niger0.870 → 0.722−0.148

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 2023.
148 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 4 countries share 0.884. 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-2023-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 (2023). Physical Violence Index, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/physical-violence/2023

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Physical Violence Index, 2022
176 countries
The year after ›
Physical Violence Index, 2024
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