Data for 2021

Liberal Democracy Index, 2021

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Liberal Democracy Index, 2021 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.882; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.367. Against 2020, 159 values changed (54 up, 105 down), the same countries are covered.

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Liberal Democracy Index · Data for 2021

HighestDenmark

0.882

LowestEritrea

0.010

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
157distinct 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, 2021, 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 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Liberal Democracy Index, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.882
2	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.866
3	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.853
4	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.851
=5	Costa RicaCRICentral America	0.843
=5	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.843
7	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.835
8	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.833
9	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.827
10	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.814
11	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.813
12	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.812
13	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.810
=14	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.789
=14	UruguayURYSouth America	0.789
16	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.785
17	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.784
18	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.781
19	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.779
20	ChileCHLSouth America	0.777
=21	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.775
=21	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.775
23	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.774
24	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.757
25	United StatesUSANorthern America	0.756
26	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.749
27	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.745
28	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.740
29	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.736
30	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.732
31	TaiwanTWNEastern Asia	0.711
32	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.698
33	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.691
34	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.686
35	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	0.676
36	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0.673
37	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.672
38	PeruPERSouth America	0.660
39	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.653
40	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.641
=41	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.639
=41	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.639
=41	SurinameSURSouth America	0.639
44	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	0.634
45	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.630
46	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.624
47	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	0.618
48	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.611
49	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.609
50	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.605
51	SenegalSENWestern Africa	0.558
=52	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.554
=52	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	0.554
54	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.549
55	PanamaPANCentral America	0.544
56	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.532
57	BrazilBRASouth America	0.531
58	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.522
59	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.506
=60	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	0.501
=60	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	0.501
62	ColombiaCOLSouth America	0.499
63	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.498
64	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	0.495
65	KosovoXKXSouthern Europe	0.494
66	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.491
67	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.484
68	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.482
69	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.477
70	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.464
71	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	0.456
=72	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.454
=72	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	0.454
74	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	0.438
75	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	0.436
76	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	0.432
77	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.427
=78	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.424
=78	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.424
=80	KenyaKENEastern Africa	0.423
=80	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.423
82	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	0.417
83	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	0.408
84	NigerNERWestern Africa	0.401
85	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.398
86	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.393
87	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.389
88	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.371
89	BoliviaBOLSouth America	0.362
90	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.359
91	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	0.355
92	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.346
93	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.339
94	GuyanaGUYSouth America	0.335
95	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	0.331
96	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.329
97	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	0.328
98	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	0.324
99	UkraineUKREastern Europe	0.323
100	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	0.321
101	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.307
102	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.300
103	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.274
=104	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.271
=104	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.271
106	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.269
107	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	0.262
108	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	0.256
109	SomalilandXSLEastern Africa	0.250
110	JordanJORWestern Asia	0.249
=111	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.248
=111	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.248
113	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.244
114	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.240
115	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	0.237
116	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	0.236
117	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	0.233
118	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.218
119	TogoTGOWestern Africa	0.214
120	HaitiHTICaribbean	0.204
121	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.199
122	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	0.195
123	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.194
124	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.187
125	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	0.180
126	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	0.176
127	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	0.168
128	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.156
129	MaliMLIWestern Africa	0.155
130	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	0.151
=131	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	0.140
=131	OmanOMNWestern Asia	0.140
133	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.139
134	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	0.136
135	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	0.129
136	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0.124
=137	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.121
=137	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	0.121
139	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	0.120
=140	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.116
=140	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	0.116
142	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.113
143	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	0.111
144	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.110
145	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.109
146	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.104
147	GuineaGINWestern Africa	0.098
148	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	0.095
149	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.094
150	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.092
151	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.091
152	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.084
153	QatarQATWestern Asia	0.081
154	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	0.078
155	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.067
156	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.066
157	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	0.063
158	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.059
159	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	0.058
=160	CubaCUBCaribbean	0.056
=160	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.056
162	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	0.054
=163	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	0.051
=163	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.051
165	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	0.045
166	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.044
167	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	0.041
168	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.039
169	BelarusBLREastern Europe	0.035
170	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.034
=171	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	0.033
=171	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	0.033
=171	YemenYEMWestern Asia	0.033
174	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	0.020
175	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	0.014
176	EritreaERIEastern Africa	0.010

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.882
2Sweden0.866
3Estonia0.853
4Switzerland0.851
5Costa Ricashared0.843

Lowest

176Eritrea0.010
175North Korea0.014
174Myanmar0.020
171Yemenshared0.033
171Turkmenistanshared0.033

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.367. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
159values changed, of 176 in both
54 · 105rose · fell
17unchanged

Rose most

Bolivia0.209 → 0.362+0.153
Moldova0.518 → 0.618+0.100
Malawi0.462 → 0.522+0.060
Seychelles0.575 → 0.634+0.059
Bulgaria0.501 → 0.549+0.048

Fell most

Myanmar0.252 → 0.020−0.232
El Salvador0.316 → 0.156−0.160
Tunisia0.623 → 0.464−0.159
Afghanistan0.167 → 0.041−0.126
Mali0.254 → 0.155−0.099

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 2021.
157 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.639. 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 176 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
176 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-2021-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 (2021). Liberal Democracy Index, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/liberal-democracy/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Liberal Democracy Index, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Liberal Democracy Index, 2022
176 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