Photo: Hadi Zaher · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 01 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Nauru: Governance & Institutions
How well is the state actually run?
Nauru is placed 147th of 194 countries on governance & institutions in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Government Effectiveness 0.079 (2025); Statistical Performance Indicators 47.94 (2024).
Governance & Institutions
147th
of 194 countries placed
Placed from 2 of 4 key statistics
Not placed in the Country Index 2026 overall: measured on too few topics.
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Nauru on governance & institutions — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 4
Government Effectiveness
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: The quality of public services and the civil service that delivers them, and the credibility of a government's commitment to its own policies. Where the Corruption Perceptions Index asks whether a state is honest, this asks whether it is competent.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY 4.0
0.079
Governance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong)
Higher is better
Nauru: 0.079. Across the 209 countries in this edition, values run from -2.251 (South Sudan) to 2.092 (Singapore); the world median is 0.101.
- World median
- 0.101
- Best in Micronesia
- 1.213 Guam
Each grey tick is one of 209 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 2 of 4
Statistical Performance Indicators
World Bank Group
Why it is a key: Whether a state can measure its own country. Nothing else here tests the capacity of the statistical system itself.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
47.94
SPI overall score (0–100)
Higher is better
Nauru: 47.94. Across the 188 countries in this edition, values run from 27.12 (South Sudan) to 94.14 (Norway); the world median is 69.3.
- World median
- 69.3
- Best in Micronesia
- 60.95 Palau
Each grey tick is one of 188 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 3 of 4
Corruption Perceptions Index
Transparency International
Why it is a key: How much corruption the people who actually deal with a government perceive — an outcome, where the other keys measure the state’s capacity and the limits the law puts on it.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY 4.0 (the data), CC BY-ND 4.0 (the website and report)
No reading
CPI score (0–100, where 100 is very clean)
Higher is better
Transparency International publishes no 2025 figure for Nauru, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 182 countries in this edition, values run from 9 (Somalia) to 89 (Denmark); the world median is 39.
- World median
- 39
Each grey tick is one of 182 countries in the 2025 edition.
Key 4 of 4
Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
Why it is a key: Whether the executive respects the constitution and obeys the courts, and whether the courts can rule against it freely — the law binding those who write it.
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
No reading
Judicial constraints on the executive index (0–1)
Higher is better
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg publishes no 2025 figure for Nauru, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 176 countries in this edition, values run from 0.003 (Nicaragua) to 0.988 (Australia); the world median is 0.676.
- World median
- 0.676
Each grey tick is one of 176 countries in the 2025 edition.
02Over time
Which way Nauru is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Government Effectiveness
Governance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong) · higher is better
NauruWorld median
Nauru rose from -0.519 in 2007 to 0.079 in 2025; the world median went from -0.326 to 0.101.
Every year’s figures
Year Nauru World median 2025 0.07947 0.1006 2024 -0.07469 0.0098 2023 -0.07485 -0.0408 2022 -0.07501 -0.0305 2021 -0.07486 -0.0158 2020 -0.07613 -0.0171 2019 -0.06621 0.0150 2018 0.25793 0.0159 2017 -0.07003 0.0158 2016 -0.06943 0.0225 2015 -0.01182 0.0038 2014 -0.20998 0.0194 2013 -0.28732 -0.0758 2012 -0.28532 -0.0839 2011 -0.28606 -0.1221 2010 -0.28191 -0.1145 2009 -0.28467 -0.1609 2008 -0.29426 -0.2134 2007 -0.51897 -0.3260 2006 — -0.3310 2005 — -0.3706 2004 — -0.3140 2003 — -0.4369 2002 — -0.3366 2000 — -0.3969 Statistical Performance Indicators
SPI overall score (0–100) · higher is better
NauruWorld median
Nauru rose from 41.45 in 2022 to 47.94 in 2024; the world median went from 67.99 to 69.3.
Every year’s figures
Year Nauru World median 2024 48 69.30 2023 46 68.86 2022 41 67.99 2021 — 69.96 2020 — 62.91 2019 — 61.19 2018 — 61.17 2017 — 59.55 2016 — 56.25
03In context
Nauru beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 194 countries on governance & institutions, never a place within the region.
Nauru and Micronesia
Nauru has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. The standing is each country’s place among all 194 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Government EffectivenessGovernance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong) | Statistical Performance IndicatorsSPI overall score (0–100) | Corruption Perceptions IndexCPI score (0–100, where 100 is very clean) | Judicial Constraints on the Executive IndexJudicial constraints on the executive index (0–1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Palau | 117th | 0.104 | 60.95 | — | — |
| Nauru | 147th | 0.079 | 47.94 | — | — |
 Kiribati | 157th | -0.365 | 50.04 | — | — |
 Micronesia | 158th | -0.073 | 37.1 | — | — |
 Marshall Islands | 167th | -0.353 | 43.54 | — | — |
 Guam | not placed | 1.213 | — | — | — |
 Northern Mariana Islands | not placed | — | — | — | — |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Across Micronesia
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 194.
Placed either side on governance & institutions
The countries immediately above and below Nauru in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Nauru is ahead of the world, and behind
13 more statistics filed under governance & institutions, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median9
Statistics on which Nauru does better than the middle country measured.
Government Spending on EducationUIS · 2023 · world median 3.7095.7773.709▲ Improved since 2014
Nauru: 5.777 · world median 3.709 · Government expenditure on education (% of GDP). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 16.39; higher is better.
Position 17th of 123 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Climate Readiness (ND-GAIN)Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 2024 · world median 0.3870.5710.387No real change since 2014
Nauru: 0.571 · world median 0.387 · ND-GAIN Readiness (0–1, where 1 is the most ready). Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.137 to 0.749; higher is better.
Ranked 36th of 192 by Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame.
Agriculture Orientation IndexFAO · 2024 · world median 0.3050.510.305▼ Worsened since 2014
Nauru: 0.51 · world median 0.305 · Agriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.03 to 5.38; higher is better.
Position 36th of 132 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Voice and AccountabilityWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median -0.0220.54-0.022▼ Worsened since 2015
Nauru: 0.54 · world median -0.022 · Voice and Accountability estimate (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -2.348 to 1.825; higher is better.
Position 69th of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Control of CorruptionWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median -0.1970.457-0.197▼ Worsened since 2015
Nauru: 0.457 · world median -0.197 · Control of Corruption (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -2.096 to 2.259; higher is better.
Position 74th of 211 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Social Protection CoverageILO · 2025 · world median 52.165.852.1No earlier reading
Nauru: 65.8 · world median 52.1 · Population covered by at least one social protection benefit (%). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 100; higher is better.
Civic Space RatingsCIVICUS · 2025 · world median 50.466050.46No earlier reading
Nauru: 60 · world median 50.46 · Civic space score (0–100). CIVICUS, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 2.17 to 100; higher is better.
Position 80th of 198 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Rule of LawWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median -0.1020.271-0.102▼ Worsened since 2015
Nauru: 0.271 · world median -0.102 · Rule of Law estimate (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -2.199 to 2.012; higher is better.
Position 87th of 211 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Completeness of Birth RegistrationUNICEF · 2025 · world median 98.499.198.4No earlier reading
Nauru: 99.1 · world median 98.4 · Children under 5 whose birth is registered (%). UNICEF, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 2.7 to 100; higher is better.
Behind the world median3
Statistics on which Nauru does worse than the middle country measured.
Regulatory QualityWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median -0.093-0.576-0.093No real change since 2015
Nauru: -0.576 · world median -0.093 · Regulatory Quality (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -2.106 to 2.113; higher is better.
Position 143rd of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Government AI Readiness IndexOxford Insights · 2025 · world median 40.1922.4840.19▼ Worsened since 2023
Nauru: 22.48 · world median 40.19 · AI readiness score (0–100). Oxford Insights, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 12.12 to 88.36; higher is better.
Ranked 160th of 195 by Oxford Insights.
GovTech Maturity IndexWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 0.630.1380.63▲ Improved since 2022
Nauru: 0.138 · world median 0.63 · GTMI score (0–1). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.01 to 0.997; higher is better.
Position 184th of 196 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No better end1
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Public Sector Wage BillWorld Bank Group · 2022 · world median 7.97542.657.975Moved since 2012
Nauru: 42.65 · world median 7.975 · Public sector wage bill (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 0.977 to 42.65.
Position 1st of 168 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for Nauru
Business Ready: Operational Efficiency, Business Ready: Public Services, Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, Central Bank Independence Index, Corruption Perceptions Index, Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, Debt Service on External Debt, External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), General Government Consumption, Government Funding per Primary Student (last 2002), Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, Liberal Democracy Index, Open Data Inventory, Political Corruption Index, Public Sector Employment, State Authority over Territory, Trade Union Density, V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index and Women, Business and the Law. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Governance & Institutions among Nauru’s 8 topics
Governance & Institutions is Nauru’s 7th best-placed topic of 8. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
- Risk & Resilience38th of 1923/3 keys
- Democracy & Civil Liberties78th of 1982/3 keys
- Education & Knowledgejoint 86th of 1714/4 keys
- Energyjoint 119th of 1932/3 keys
- Health & Wellbeing126th of 2003/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital125th of 1963/3 keys
- Governance & Institutions147th of 1942/4 keys
- Digital & Technology174th of 1983/3 keys
No standing on Economy & Innovation, Work & Labour, Environment & Sustainability, Gender & Equality, Peace & Security, Mobility & Trade, Food & Agriculture, Poverty & Inequality: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on governance & institutions
The three countries placed highest of 194, and the leaders Nauru can most readily be measured against.
1
DenmarkNorthern Europe
1st of 194 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: User:Aconcagua · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2
New ZealandAustralia and New Zealand
2nd of 194 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Karora derivative work: Inkey · Public domain, greyscale
3
SwedenNorthern Europe
3rd of 194 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Oceania
New Zealand2nd4/4 keysHighest in Micronesia
Palau117th2/4 keysThis page
Nauru147th2/4 keys
Positions out of 194 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Analysis
Charts and analysis about Nauru and governance & institutions
08Questions
Nauru on governance & institutions: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Nauru rank on governance & institutions?
Nauru is placed 147th of 194 countries on Governance & Institutions in the Country Index 2026, from 2 of its 4 key statistics (Government Effectiveness and Statistical Performance Indicators). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Government Effectiveness figure for Nauru?
0.079 in 2025 (governance estimate (−2.5 weak to 2.5 strong)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 0.101.
What is the latest Statistical Performance Indicators figure for Nauru?
47.94 in 2024 (sPI overall score (0–100)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 69.3.
How have Nauru’s governance & institutions figures changed?
Government Effectiveness rose from -0.519 in 2007 to 0.079 in 2025; Statistical Performance Indicators rose from 41.45 in 2022 to 47.94 in 2024.
Which governance & institutions statistics are missing for Nauru?
No current reading is published for Nauru on Business Ready: Operational Efficiency, Business Ready: Public Services, Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, Central Bank Independence Index, Corruption Perceptions Index, Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, Debt Service on External Debt, External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), General Government Consumption, Government Funding per Primary Student, Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, Liberal Democracy Index, Open Data Inventory, Political Corruption Index, Public Sector Employment, State Authority over Territory, Trade Union Density, V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index and Women, Business and the Law. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
09Keep reading
Explore further
Nauru, topic by topic
Nearby, on governance & institutions
The key statistics, for every country
10Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Governance is not democracy. Free elections, civil liberties and press freedom belong to the Democracy & Civil Liberties topic, and a country can place well on one and poorly on the other. How openly official data is published sits here as context, beside the statistical capacity that is a key. Nor does this topic measure the size of government or how much it spends — the share of the economy run by the state is published on this page as context, with no better end.
How the Governance & Institutions standing is decided, step by step
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
- A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 30 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
- Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2024 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
- Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
- Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
- The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
- A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 194 countries clear the bar here.
- A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
- A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.
The key statistics and their licences
- Government Effectiveness — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Statistical Performance Indicators — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Corruption Perceptions Index — Transparency International, CC BY 4.0 (the data), CC BY-ND 4.0 (the website and report)
- Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index — V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
The other 13 statistics on this page come from 8 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Nauru’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Nauru (banner) — Hadi Zaher, CC BY 2.0
- Denmark — User:Aconcagua, CC BY-SA 3.0
- New Zealand — Karora derivative work: Inkey, Public domain
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Nauru: Governance & Institutions — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/nauru/governance