Data for 2009

Liberal Democracy Index, 2009

2009, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2009 covers 175 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.895; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.005. The middle country reads 0.376. Against 2008, 124 values changed (70 up, 54 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2009

HighestDenmark

0.895

LowestEritrea

0.005

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

175countries
1measure
2009the year it describes
165distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Liberal Democracy Index, 2009, 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 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Liberal Democracy Index, 2009: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.895
2	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.881
3	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.866
4	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.862
5	Costa RicaCRICentral America	0.855
6	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.850
7	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.849
8	United StatesUSANorthern America	0.848
9	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.842
10	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.839
11	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.838
12	ChileCHLSouth America	0.836
13	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.834
=14	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.825
=14	UruguayURYSouth America	0.825
16	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.823
17	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.821
18	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.820
19	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.816
20	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.814
21	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.813
22	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.812
23	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.807
24	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.804
25	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.796
26	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.791
27	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.790
28	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.788
29	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.779
30	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.775
31	BrazilBRASouth America	0.769
32	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.766
33	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.753
34	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.734
35	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.722
36	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	0.697
37	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.694
38	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.684
39	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.680
40	TaiwanTWNEastern Asia	0.667
41	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.666
42	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.662
43	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.656
44	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.654
45	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.653
46	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.652
47	PeruPERSouth America	0.649
48	SurinameSURSouth America	0.647
49	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.641
50	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.624
51	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0.618
52	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.614
53	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.587
54	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.583
55	PanamaPANCentral America	0.549
56	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	0.546
57	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.541
58	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.539
59	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.529
60	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	0.527
61	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.526
62	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	0.521
63	SenegalSENWestern Africa	0.520
64	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.513
65	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	0.507
66	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.502
67	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.498
68	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.471
69	ColombiaCOLSouth America	0.465
70	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	0.462
71	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.459
72	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	0.446
73	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	0.436
74	BoliviaBOLSouth America	0.435
75	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.426
76	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.413
77	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	0.410
78	MaliMLIWestern Africa	0.406
79	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.404
80	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.403
81	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.400
82	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.399
83	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.396
84	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	0.395
85	UkraineUKREastern Europe	0.394
86	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.378
87	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.377
88	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	0.376
89	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	0.374
90	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	0.371
91	GuyanaGUYSouth America	0.369
92	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	0.366
93	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	0.358
94	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.348
95	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	0.340
96	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.337
97	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	0.334
98	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.329
=99	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	0.324
=99	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	0.324
101	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.314
102	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.307
103	KenyaKENEastern Africa	0.305
104	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	0.304
105	HaitiHTICaribbean	0.296
106	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.286
107	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.283
108	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	0.280
109	NigerNERWestern Africa	0.275
110	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	0.273
111	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	0.261
112	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.259
113	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.257
114	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	0.241
115	SomalilandXSLEastern Africa	0.239
116	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.233
117	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0.232
118	TogoTGOWestern Africa	0.229
119	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.223
120	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.218
121	JordanJORWestern Asia	0.205
122	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.204
123	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.197
124	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	0.196
125	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.193
126	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	0.192
127	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	0.191
128	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.180
129	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.179
130	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.175
131	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	0.165
132	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.164
133	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.160
134	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.154
=135	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	0.153
=135	YemenYEMWestern Asia	0.153
137	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.152
138	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.141
139	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.130
140	OmanOMNWestern Asia	0.126
=141	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.122
=141	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	0.122
143	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.118
144	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	0.114
145	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	0.113
146	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	0.111
147	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.105
148	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	0.101
149	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	0.100
=150	BelarusBLREastern Europe	0.097
=150	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	0.097
=150	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	0.097
=150	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.097
=150	QatarQATWestern Asia	0.097
=155	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	0.095
=155	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.095
157	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	0.094
158	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	0.091
159	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.088
160	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.081
161	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.070
162	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.069
163	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.063
164	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.057
165	GuineaGINWestern Africa	0.056
166	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	0.053
=167	CubaCUBCaribbean	0.050
=167	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	0.050
169	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	0.045
170	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	0.044
171	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	0.034
172	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	0.023
173	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	0.018
174	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	0.014
175	EritreaERIEastern Africa	0.005

02In 2009

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.895
2Sweden0.881
3Norway0.866
4Germany0.862
5Costa Rica0.855

Lowest

175Eritrea0.005
174North Korea0.014
173Myanmar0.018
172Turkmenistan0.023
171Uzbekistan0.034

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.376. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032008 → 2009

Since 2008

What changed between 2008 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
124values changed, of 175 in both
70 · 54rose · fell
51unchanged

Rose most

Maldives0.246 → 0.404+0.158
Bangladesh0.105 → 0.193+0.088
Vanuatu0.549 → 0.618+0.069
Bhutan0.431 → 0.498+0.067
Nepal0.413 → 0.471+0.058

Fell most

Madagascar0.277 → 0.101−0.176
Niger0.421 → 0.275−0.146
Honduras0.323 → 0.283−0.040
Guinea0.096 → 0.056−0.040
North Macedonia0.412 → 0.378−0.034

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.

The site’s method

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 2009.
165 distinct values among 175
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 5 countries share 0.097. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the better result.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 175 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
175 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download liberal-democracy-2009-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. Share, adapt and use commercially with credit — and anything you publish that adapts it must carry the same licence.

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2009). Liberal Democracy Index, 2009 [data set], describing 2009. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2009

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2008
175 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2010
175 countries
All of them
Liberal Democracy Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions