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Data for 1998

Rule of Law, 1998

Figures for 1998, as World Bank Group published them · stored as published, never rewritten

Rule of Law, 1998 covers 198 countries on 2 measures. Switzerland is highest, at 1.933233; Somalia is lowest, at -2.415596. The middle country reads -0.128118. Against 1996, 197 values changed (60 up, 137 down), 1 country joined.

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Rule of Law · Data for 1998

HighestSwitzerland

1.933233

LowestSomalia

-2.415596

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

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Rule of Law, 1998, as published. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 198 countries · select a heading to sort

Rule of Law, 1998: every country, as published by World Bank Group.
derived
1SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe1.93323390.4869
2NorwayNORNorthern Europe1.91711890.2213
3FinlandFINNorthern Europe1.91218590.1401
4DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe1.81911988.6065
5New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand1.79857688.2680
6AustriaAUTWestern Europe1.78792888.0926
7NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe1.73869187.2813
8SwedenSWENorthern Europe1.70878986.7886
9CanadaCANNorthern America1.70869286.7869
10AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand1.69039786.4855
11United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe1.67114586.1683
12LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe1.66742886.1070
13GermanyDEUWestern Europe1.65072085.8317
14IcelandISLNorthern Europe1.61346885.2179
15IrelandIRLNorthern Europe1.55891684.3190
16United StatesUSANorthern America1.55763384.2978
17LiechtensteinLIEWestern Europe1.34365480.7719
18SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia1.31787880.3472
19Cayman IslandsCYMCaribbean1.30553380.1438
20MaltaMLTSouthern Europe1.27851579.6986
21JapanJPNEastern Asia1.27409779.6258
22FranceFRAWestern Europe1.27031579.5635
23SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe1.22208378.7687
24BelgiumBELWestern Europe1.16984477.9080
25PortugalPRTSouthern Europe1.13974377.4120

02In 1998

At either end

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

Highest

  1. 1Switzerland1.933233
  2. 2Norway1.917118
  3. 3Finland1.912185
  4. 4Denmark1.819119
  5. 5New Zealand1.798576

Lowest

  1. 198Somalia-2.415596
  2. 197DR Congo-2.229830
  3. 196Liberia-2.014370
  4. 195Guinea-Bissau-1.937875
  5. 194Afghanistan-1.922002

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads -0.128118. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Governance Score, Rule of Law (0–100)

    HighestSwitzerland90.4869

    LowestSomalia18.8279

    Middle country: 56.5204

031996 → 1998

Since 1996

What changed between 1996 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +1 / −0countries joined / left
  • 197values changed, of 197 in both
  • 60 · 137rose · fell
  • 0unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

+ Montenegro

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do. 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

  • 188 distinct values among 198

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 18 decimals. 11 countries share 0.812715. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • The position is ours

    World Bank Group publishes values only; the order is this site’s.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 198 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

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 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

World Bank Group (1998). Rule of Law, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/rule-of-law/1998

0627 held

Other years

07Questions

Rule of Law, 1998: questions and answers

Which country has the highest rule of law in Rule of Law, 1998?

Switzerland, at 1.933233, of the 198 countries in the file.

What year does Rule of Law, 1998 describe?

1998.

How many countries does Rule of Law, 1998 cover?

198.

Where can I download Rule of Law, 1998?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Rule of Law, 1998 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Rule of Law, 2025.

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