V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · Rigorous and Impartial Public Administration
Impartial public administration by country
Do public officials apply the law rigorously and treat like cases alike?
Germany placed first of the 176 countries compared in 2025, at 3.990, and Nicaragua last, at -3.552. In the middle country the figure was 0.333. Among the 168 countries measured in every edition since 1990, the middle one moved from 0.013 to 0.351.
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Part ofGovernance & Institutions
Impartial public administration · 2025
Context statistic
Highest of 176Germany
3.990012025 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 176 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
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2Photo: Simon Koopmann derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 2.0 de, greyscale
3Photo: Marcin Szala · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Lowest in 2025
- 176
Nicaragua-3.552 - 175
Afghanistan-3.195 - 174
Chad-3.110
Positions out of 176. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Impartial public administration on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- -3.552–-0.930
- -0.928–0.015
- 0.061–0.651
- 0.660–1.590
- 1.634–3.990
- No reading in 2025
- Europe
1.312
the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members
Germany3.990
Russia-1.049Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Oceania
0.956
the middle country, of 6 measured · 21 members
Australia3.324
Papua New Guinea0.142Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Americas
0.627
the middle country, of 27 measured · 48 members
Costa Rica2.646Nicaragua-3.552Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
-0.182
the middle country, of 55 measured · 55 members
Namibia2.734Chad-3.110Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Asia
-0.456
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Taiwan3.245Afghanistan-3.195Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Every region
20 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
2.850
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany3.990
Netherlands1.873Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
2.602
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Latvia3.526
Lithuania0.982Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Southern Africa
1.187
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia2.734
Eswatini-1.131Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Southern Europe
1.100
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Spain1.966
North Macedonia-0.526Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Central America
0.660
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica2.646Nicaragua-3.552Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Caribbean
0.593
the middle country, of 6 measured · 24 members
Jamaica2.210
Cuba-1.764Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- South America
0.416
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Uruguay1.590
Venezuela-2.626Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Eastern Europe
0.276
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Czechia3.243Russia-1.049Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
0.218
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Taiwan3.245
North Korea-1.850Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
0.173
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Israel1.577
Yemen-3.062Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Africa
-0.006
the middle country, of 19 measured · 19 members
Seychelles2.650
South Sudan-2.626Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Africa
-0.022
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Benin1.688
Guinea-1.807Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Middle Africa
-0.289
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe1.816Chad-3.110Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Southern Asia
-0.568
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Maldives1.996Afghanistan-3.195Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central Asia
-0.583
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kyrgyzstan0.628
Tajikistan-2.443Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
-0.766
the middle country, of 10 measured · 11 members
Singapore3.110
Cambodia-1.860Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Northern Africa
-0.897
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Tunisia-0.182
Libya-2.366Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia3.324
New Zealand2.694Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Vanuatu1.288Papua New Guinea0.142Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada1.877
United States1.223Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
176 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.333; a quarter are above 1.303, and a quarter below -0.767. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 176 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Higher is better. It describes how officials treat the public in practice — not how large, well paid or efficient the civil service is, and not how its staff are hired, which V-Dem asks about separately.
Showing 25 of 176 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051990–2025 · 36 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 1990, all of them re-estimated together in V-Dem's v16 release. The scale has no fixed ends, so read the movement and the gap to other countries rather than the number on its own.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 168 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 176 | 0.333 | -0.767 – 1.303 | 0.351 |
| 2024 | 176 | 0.410 | -0.804 – 1.300 | 0.410 |
| 2023 | 176 | 0.488 | -0.804 – 1.329 | 0.488 |
| 2022 | 176 | 0.574 | -0.865 – 1.416 | 0.593 |
| 2021 | 176 | 0.446 | -0.873 – 1.328 | 0.446 |
| 2020 | 176 | 0.415 | -0.686 – 1.408 | 0.415 |
| 2019 | 176 | 0.428 | -0.674 – 1.300 | 0.428 |
| 2018 | 176 | 0.352 | -0.729 – 1.373 | 0.352 |
| 2017 | 176 | 0.385 | -0.706 – 1.316 | 0.352 |
| 2016 | 176 | 0.350 | -0.665 – 1.369 | 0.350 |
| 2015 | 176 | 0.395 | -0.738 – 1.375 | 0.395 |
| 2014 | 176 | 0.366 | -0.742 – 1.355 | 0.366 |
| 2013 | 176 | 0.382 | -0.655 – 1.355 | 0.382 |
| 2012 | 176 | 0.393 | -0.678 – 1.515 | 0.393 |
| 2011 | 176 | 0.344 | -0.675 – 1.537 | 0.344 |
| 2010 | 175 | 0.235 | -0.699 – 1.558 | 0.233 |
| 2009 | 175 | 0.232 | -0.731 – 1.554 | 0.216 |
| 2008 | 175 | 0.250 | -0.718 – 1.570 | 0.241 |
| 2007 | 175 | 0.232 | -0.718 – 1.551 | 0.217 |
| 2006 | 175 | 0.201 | -0.687 – 1.532 | 0.183 |
| 2005 | 175 | 0.232 | -0.681 – 1.459 | 0.217 |
| 2004 | 175 | 0.232 | -0.669 – 1.456 | 0.217 |
| 2003 | 175 | 0.221 | -0.669 – 1.456 | 0.211 |
| 2002 | 175 | 0.225 | -0.669 – 1.470 | 0.211 |
| 2001 | 175 | 0.118 | -0.686 – 1.518 | 0.093 |
| 2000 | 175 | 0.118 | -0.678 – 1.503 | 0.095 |
| 1999 | 175 | 0.097 | -0.779 – 1.470 | 0.089 |
| 1998 | 174 | 0.104 | -0.782 – 1.473 | 0.089 |
| 1997 | 173 | 0.113 | -0.844 – 1.477 | 0.112 |
| 1996 | 173 | 0.110 | -0.714 – 1.456 | 0.095 |
| 1995 | 173 | 0.113 | -0.868 – 1.456 | 0.115 |
| 1994 | 173 | 0.110 | -0.814 – 1.426 | 0.112 |
| 1993 | 173 | 0.110 | -0.803 – 1.287 | 0.112 |
| 1992 | 172 | 0.028 | -0.781 – 1.291 | 0.046 |
| 1991 | 171 | 0.025 | -0.761 – 1.163 | 0.028 |
| 1990 | 168 | 0.013 | -0.785 – 1.140 | 0.013 |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after- Maldives-0.060 → 1.996 · 112th → 27th+2.056
Syria-1.663 → 0.173 · 159th → 98th+1.836
Equatorial Guinea-1.159 → -0.010 · 149th → 108th+1.149
South Korea1.465 → 2.569 · 38th → 18th+1.104
Ghana-1.078 → 0.015 · 143rd → 106th+1.093
Declined most
before → after
Tanzania1.429 → 0.343 · 42nd → 88th−1.086
DR Congo-1.115 → -2.159 · 145th → 167th−1.044
Madagascar-0.580 → -1.621 · 126th → 157th−1.041
Ecuador-0.042 → -0.941 · 109th → 143rd−0.899
Mongolia0.921 → 0.090 · 59th → 101st−0.831
176 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Impartial public administration in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
4.012
Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +4.0); higher = a more rigorous and impartial administration
Lowest reading on record
-3.616
Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +4.0); higher = a more rigorous and impartial administration
Biggest improvement between editions
+3.528
-1.856 → 1.672
Biggest decline between editions
−3.052
2.462 → -0.590
Most improved since first measured
+3.468
-0.818 → 2.650
At the top most often
30 of 36
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About impartial public administration
V-Dem's measure of rigorous and impartial public administration asks whether the officials who deal with ordinary people's cases follow the law and treat like cases alike, or act arbitrarily and favour some people over others through nepotism, cronyism or discrimination. It is an expert-coded estimate on an open-ended scale centred near zero, and a higher figure means a more rule-bound, even-handed administration.
What the number is: Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +4.0); higher = a more rigorous and impartial administration.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Governance & Institutions, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where impartial public administration is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Egalitarian Democracy IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries in commonρ 0.86
- Liberal Democracy IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries in commonρ 0.85
- Physical Violence IndexKeyV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries in commonρ 0.84
Moves against
Where impartial public administration is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Neopatrimonial Rule IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries in commonρ −0.88
- Political Corruption IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries in commonρ −0.84
- Exclusion by Socio-Economic GroupV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 174 countries in commonρ −0.74
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 379 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
More from V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
11Questions
Impartial public administration: questions and answers
Which country has the highest impartial public administration?
Germany, at 3.990, among the 176 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the lowest impartial public administration?
Nicaragua, at -3.552, among the 176 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Rigorous and Impartial Public Administration cover?
176 in 2025. The number measured varies from 168 to 176 between editions.
What is the world average impartial public administration?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 176 compared in 2025, the figure was 0.333.
Is this V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg’s own ranking?
No. V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Rigorous and Impartial Public Administration published?
This site holds 36 reference years, 1990–2025, all recalculated in V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg’s 2026 report on one method — not 36 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, under CC BY-SA 4.0. From the V-Dem Institute's Country-Year Core dataset (v16), University of Gothenburg, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. V-Dem's data runs back to 1789; the series here starts in 1990 so that every row belongs to a present-day country. Stored as the measurement model's original estimate, not V-Dem's 0–4 rescaling. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Rigorous and Impartial Public Administration — V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
From the V-Dem Institute's Country-Year Core dataset (v16), University of Gothenburg, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. V-Dem's data runs back to 1789; the series here starts in 1990 so that every row belongs to a present-day country. Stored as the measurement model's original estimate, not V-Dem's 0–4 rescaling.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: Coppedge, M. et al. V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v16. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, University of Gothenburg.
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Germany — dronepicr, CC BY 2.0
- Switzerland — Simon Koopmann derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 2.0 de
- Latvia — Marcin Szala, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Impartial public administration by country: Rigorous and Impartial Public Administration, data from V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/impartial-public-administration