Independent rankings built from public data — every figure traceable to the body that published it.
Report year 2000Data year 2000
Regulatory Quality (−2.5 to 2.5)Higher is better — rank 1 leadsPublished by World Bank Group
24 reference years (1996–2022), covering 181 to 200 countries, as published by the World Bank in the Worldwide Governance Indicators. The dimension captures how far a government is seen to formulate and enforce rules that let a private sector work — licensing, price controls, barriers to trade and entry, and the burden of regulation generally. ⚠ IT MEASURES THE QUALITY OF REGULATION AS PERCEIVED, NOT THE QUANTITY. A country can score well with a great deal of regulation, if that regulation is seen to work; this is not an index of deregulation. ⚠ It is built from surveys of firms, households and expert assessments, so it reports PERCEPTIONS rather than an audit of the statute book. ⚠ THE WORLD BANK PUBLISHES NO COMPOSITE WGI SCORE AND RANKS NOBODY. The Bank's own "Rank" column is a PERCENTILE (0 = worst governed, 100 = best), not an ordinal place, and is stored as `percentile_rank`; the POSITION on the statistics page is derived here by ordering the score and labelled as ours. ⚠ The same numbers also appear as a column of `government-effectiveness`, by construction — both are read from the same sheet in the same pass, so they cannot drift. ⚠ Promoted to an indicator on 2026-09-10; it had been carried as a column only since 2026-09-07.
Regulatory Quality 2000 — World Bank Group
Cite as: World Bank. Worldwide Governance Indicators. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Estimates as published by the World Bank in the Worldwide Governance Indicators. The dimension captures how far a government is seen to formulate and enforce rules that let a private sector work — licensing, price controls, barriers to trade and entry, and the burden of regulation generally. ⚠ It measures the QUALITY of regulation as perceived, not the QUANTITY: a country can score well with a great deal of regulation, if that regulation is seen to work. ⚠ The World Bank publishes no composite WGI score and ranks nobody — the percentile rank here is a position on a 0–100 scale, not a place in a list.
183 rows × 4 columns · imported from the publisher’s published data file on
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| Country | ISO Code | Regulatory Quality (−2.5 to 2.5) | Percentile Rank, Regulatory Quality (0–100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | NLD | 2.17649 | 89.1892 |
| Singapore | SGP | 2.10661 | 88.0870 |
| United Kingdom | GBR | 1.92189 | 85.1738 |
| Luxembourg | LUX | 1.90229 | 84.8646 |
| Switzerland | CHE | 1.89781 | 84.7940 |
| Denmark | DNK | 1.83540 | 83.8096 |
| United States | USA | 1.83465 | 83.7978 |
| Finland | FIN | 1.75532 | 82.5466 |
| Ireland | IRL | 1.72503 | 82.0690 |
| Liechtenstein | LIE | 1.63413 | 80.6353 |
| Australia | AUS | 1.62876 | 80.5507 |
| Canada | CAN | 1.62510 | 80.4929 |
| New Zealand | NZL | 1.61925 | 80.4006 |
| Germany | DEU | 1.60370 | 80.1554 |
| Austria | AUT | 1.59394 | 80.0015 |
| Hong Kong SAR, China | HKG | 1.51089 | 78.6917 |
| Sweden | SWE | 1.45805 | 77.8583 |
| Andorra | AND | 1.45653 | 77.8343 |
| Bermuda | BMU | 1.45653 | 77.8343 |
| Cayman Islands | CYM | 1.45653 | 77.8343 |
| Iceland | ISL | 1.45313 | 77.7807 |
| Spain | ESP | 1.41448 | 77.1711 |
| Chile | CHL | 1.40744 | 77.0602 |
| Barbados | BRB | 1.40674 | 77.0490 |
| Belgium | BEL | 1.24555 | 74.5069 |
| Norway | NOR | 1.24052 | 74.4275 |
| Puerto Rico | PRI | 1.10134 | 72.2325 |
| Bahamas, The | BHS | 1.07853 | 71.8728 |
| France | FRA | 1.06007 | 71.5817 |
| Portugal | PRT | 1.01854 | 70.9266 |
| Taiwan, China | TWN | 1.00594 | 70.7279 |
| Estonia | EST | 0.99602 | 70.5715 |
| Malta | MLT | 0.94279 | 69.7319 |
| Dominica | DMA | 0.92374 | 69.4315 |
| Maldives | MDV | 0.92374 | 69.4315 |
| Israel | ISR | 0.91890 | 69.3552 |
| Botswana | BWA | 0.85719 | 68.3819 |
| Hungary | HUN | 0.81534 | 67.7218 |
| Greece | GRC | 0.80902 | 67.6222 |
| Italy | ITA | 0.79909 | 67.4656 |
| Cyprus | CYP | 0.77742 | 67.1238 |
| Japan | JPN | 0.77330 | 67.0588 |
| Costa Rica | CRI | 0.74047 | 66.5411 |
| Brunei Darussalam | BRN | 0.73521 | 66.4581 |
| Uruguay | URY | 0.68821 | 65.7169 |
| Slovenia | SVN | 0.61940 | 64.6317 |
| Poland | POL | 0.57379 | 63.9122 |
| Bahrain | BHR | 0.57049 | 63.8602 |
| United Arab Emirates | ARE | 0.57045 | 63.8596 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | ATG | 0.56855 | 63.8296 |
| Macao SAR, China | MAC | 0.56855 | 63.8296 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | TTO | 0.56638 | 63.7954 |
| Panama | PAN | 0.52086 | 63.0775 |
| Czechia | CZE | 0.49622 | 62.6889 |
| South Africa | ZAF | 0.48236 | 62.4703 |
| Korea, Rep. | KOR | 0.46051 | 62.1256 |
| Latvia | LVA | 0.44157 | 61.8270 |
| Malaysia | MYS | 0.40974 | 61.3250 |
| Grenada | GRD | 0.39095 | 61.0287 |
| Mauritius | MUS | 0.37273 | 60.7412 |
| Lithuania | LTU | 0.36785 | 60.6643 |
| Slovak Republic | SVK | 0.34529 | 60.3085 |
| Thailand | THA | 0.32938 | 60.0575 |
| Belize | BLZ | 0.26968 | 59.1160 |
| Mexico | MEX | 0.26560 | 59.0517 |
| Türkiye | TUR | 0.21497 | 58.2531 |
| Seychelles | SYC | 0.21336 | 58.2277 |
| Peru | PER | 0.20742 | 58.1342 |
| Jordan | JOR | 0.19435 | 57.9280 |
| Namibia | NAM | 0.17501 | 57.6229 |
| Samoa | WSM | 0.14125 | 57.0904 |
| Bulgaria | BGR | 0.13825 | 57.0432 |
| Tunisia | TUN | 0.11199 | 56.6291 |
| Bolivia | BOL | 0.11114 | 56.6157 |
| Brazil | BRA | 0.08572 | 56.2148 |
| Jamaica | JAM | 0.05914 | 55.7955 |
| Oman | OMN | 0.03310 | 55.3848 |
| Dominican Republic | DOM | 0.00177 | 54.8907 |
| Cabo Verde | CPV | -0.01929 | 54.5586 |
| Morocco | MAR | -0.02014 | 54.5452 |
| Philippines | PHL | -0.03834 | 54.2582 |
| Saudi Arabia | SAU | -0.05870 | 53.9370 |
| Qatar | QAT | -0.07451 | 53.6876 |
| Argentina | ARG | -0.10294 | 53.2393 |
| El Salvador | SLV | -0.12121 | 52.9512 |
| Ghana | GHA | -0.12260 | 52.9292 |
| Bhutan | BTN | -0.14183 | 52.6259 |
| Senegal | SEN | -0.14202 | 52.6230 |
| Malawi | MWI | -0.14878 | 52.5163 |
| Sri Lanka | LKA | -0.15563 | 52.4083 |
| Gabon | GAB | -0.18151 | 52.0001 |
| Mozambique | MOZ | -0.23631 | 51.1358 |
| Colombia | COL | -0.24202 | 51.0457 |
| Benin | BEN | -0.24405 | 51.0137 |
| Burkina Faso | BFA | -0.26011 | 50.7605 |
| China | CHN | -0.27632 | 50.5048 |
| Croatia | HRV | -0.27666 | 50.4995 |
| Guyana | GUY | -0.30150 | 50.1077 |
| Uganda | UGA | -0.31115 | 49.9556 |
| Egypt, Arab Rep. | EGY | -0.31398 | 49.9108 |
| Cambodia | KHM | -0.33237 | 49.6208 |
| Mongolia | MNG | -0.34023 | 49.4968 |
| Mali | MLI | -0.35712 | 49.2305 |
| Gambia, The | GMB | -0.35977 | 49.1886 |
| Lesotho | LSO | -0.37249 | 48.9881 |
| India | IND | -0.37460 | 48.9548 |
| Guatemala | GTM | -0.37558 | 48.9394 |
| Romania | ROU | -0.39880 | 48.5731 |
| Nicaragua | NIC | -0.40862 | 48.4183 |
| Kuwait | KWT | -0.41855 | 48.2617 |
| Mauritania | MRT | -0.42728 | 48.1239 |
| Papua New Guinea | PNG | -0.43557 | 47.9933 |
| Zambia | ZMB | -0.43661 | 47.9768 |
| Eswatini | SWZ | -0.44612 | 47.8268 |
| Indonesia | IDN | -0.46263 | 47.5665 |
| Lebanon | LBN | -0.50718 | 46.8639 |
| Tanzania | TZA | -0.50879 | 46.8385 |
| North Macedonia | MKD | -0.52095 | 46.6467 |
| Madagascar | MDG | -0.53426 | 46.4368 |
| Fiji | FJI | -0.55572 | 46.0984 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | KGZ | -0.55678 | 46.0815 |
| Honduras | HND | -0.56817 | 45.9019 |
| Moldova | MDA | -0.57285 | 45.8281 |
| Georgia | GEO | -0.65111 | 44.5939 |
| Venezuela, RB | VEN | -0.65144 | 44.5887 |
| Kenya | KEN | -0.65934 | 44.4641 |
| Vietnam | VNM | -0.67393 | 44.2340 |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | STP | -0.67462 | 44.2230 |
| Ecuador | ECU | -0.71365 | 43.6075 |
| Armenia | ARM | -0.72648 | 43.4051 |
| Albania | ALB | -0.73618 | 43.2522 |
| Nepal | NPL | -0.73895 | 43.2086 |
| Djibouti | DJI | -0.75779 | 42.9114 |
| Kazakhstan | KAZ | -0.76623 | 42.7782 |
| Russian Federation | RUS | -0.78314 | 42.5116 |
| Guinea | GIN | -0.78656 | 42.4576 |
| Yemen, Rep. | YEM | -0.80390 | 42.1841 |
| Cameroon | CMR | -0.81254 | 42.0478 |
| Algeria | DZA | -0.82686 | 41.8221 |
| Azerbaijan | AZE | -0.86316 | 41.2495 |
| Niger | NER | -0.86934 | 41.1520 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | BIH | -0.89998 | 40.6688 |
| Ukraine | UKR | -0.90203 | 40.6366 |
| Suriname | SUR | -0.94416 | 39.9720 |
| Pakistan | PAK | -0.96143 | 39.6996 |
| Togo | TGO | -1.08522 | 37.7473 |
| Paraguay | PRY | -1.11010 | 37.3550 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | CIV | -1.13961 | 36.8895 |
| Bangladesh | BGD | -1.19036 | 36.0891 |
| Nigeria | NGA | -1.20239 | 35.8994 |
| West Bank and Gaza | PSE | -1.20741 | 35.8202 |
| Ethiopia | ETH | -1.21527 | 35.6962 |
| Cuba | CUB | -1.24795 | 35.1808 |
| Chad | TCD | -1.25268 | 35.1063 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | SYR | -1.33039 | 33.8807 |
| Congo, Rep. | COG | -1.33487 | 33.8100 |
| Burundi | BDI | -1.38111 | 33.0807 |
| Central African Republic | CAF | -1.38501 | 33.0193 |
| Comoros | COM | -1.38501 | 33.0193 |
| Eritrea | ERI | -1.38501 | 33.0193 |
| Tajikistan | TJK | -1.39089 | 32.9265 |
| Haiti | HTI | -1.41234 | 32.5882 |
| Guinea-Bissau | GNB | -1.41499 | 32.5463 |
| Lao PDR | LAO | -1.49070 | 31.3523 |
| Sudan | SDN | -1.52902 | 30.7479 |
| Libya | LBY | -1.53391 | 30.6709 |
| Rwanda | RWA | -1.56434 | 30.1909 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | IRN | -1.67769 | 28.4032 |
| Equatorial Guinea | GNQ | -1.71609 | 27.7976 |
| Belarus | BLR | -1.72390 | 27.6745 |
| Angola | AGO | -1.80660 | 26.3701 |
| Sierra Leone | SLE | -1.83647 | 25.8990 |
| Korea, Dem. People's Rep. | PRK | -1.86398 | 25.4652 |
| Serbia | SRB | -1.87963 | 25.2183 |
| Zimbabwe | ZWE | -1.93918 | 24.2792 |
| Myanmar | MMR | -2.04796 | 22.5636 |
| Iraq | IRQ | -2.09516 | 21.8191 |
| Turkmenistan | TKM | -2.11383 | 21.5247 |
| Uzbekistan | UZB | -2.13160 | 21.2444 |
| Liberia | LBR | -2.20823 | 20.0358 |
| Somalia, Federal Republic of | SOM | -2.23294 | 19.6462 |
| Afghanistan | AFG | -2.45058 | 16.2136 |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | COD | -2.58146 | 14.1495 |