Data for 1998

Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 1998

1998, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 1998 covers 173 countries. 2 countries share the highest reading, 0.970; Denmark is lowest, at 0.006. The middle country reads 0.538. Against 1997, 86 values changed (40 up, 46 down), 1 country joined.

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Neopatrimonial Rule Index · Data for 1998

Highest2 countries share it

0.970

LowestDenmark

0.006

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

173countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
156distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 1998, 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 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 1998: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
=1	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	0.970
=1	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	0.970
3	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	0.969
=4	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	0.965
=4	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	0.965
6	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	0.959
7	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	0.955
8	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	0.952
9	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	0.950
10	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	0.948
11	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	0.930
12	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	0.924
13	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	0.923
14	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	0.914
15	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	0.907
16	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	0.904
17	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	0.902
18	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	0.900
19	GuineaGINWestern Africa	0.899
20	EritreaERIEastern Africa	0.897
=21	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	0.888
=21	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	0.888
23	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	0.887
24	PeruPERSouth America	0.881
25	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	0.879
26	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	0.874
27	IraqIRQWestern Asia	0.872
28	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	0.871
29	BelarusBLREastern Europe	0.867
30	CubaCUBCaribbean	0.857
31	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	0.855
32	TogoTGOWestern Africa	0.837
33	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	0.832
34	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	0.825
=35	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	0.814
=35	YemenYEMWestern Asia	0.814
37	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	0.797
=38	GabonGABMiddle Africa	0.796
=38	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	0.796
40	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	0.794
41	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	0.786
42	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	0.784
=43	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	0.772
=43	UkraineUKREastern Europe	0.772
45	SomalilandXSLEastern Africa	0.768
46	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	0.757
=47	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	0.747
=47	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	0.747
49	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	0.744
50	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	0.736
51	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	0.731
52	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	0.718
53	HaitiHTICaribbean	0.714
54	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	0.711
55	NicaraguaNICCentral America	0.708
=56	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	0.699
=56	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	0.699
=58	KenyaKENEastern Africa	0.692
=58	QatarQATWestern Asia	0.692
60	HondurasHNDCentral America	0.690
61	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	0.681
=62	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	0.679
=62	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	0.679
64	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	0.678
65	IranIRNSouthern Asia	0.669
66	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	0.666
67	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	0.665
68	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	0.660
69	OmanOMNWestern Asia	0.656
70	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	0.647
71	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	0.636
72	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	0.629
=73	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	0.628
=73	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	0.628
75	NigerNERWestern Africa	0.627
76	ParaguayPRYSouth America	0.621
=77	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	0.604
=77	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	0.604
79	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	0.599
80	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	0.595
81	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	0.594
82	EcuadorECUSouth America	0.579
83	MaliMLIWestern Africa	0.573
84	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	0.565
85	GuyanaGUYSouth America	0.560
86	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	0.543
87	JordanJORWestern Asia	0.538
88	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	0.530
89	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	0.526
90	BoliviaBOLSouth America	0.519
91	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	0.518
92	ArgentinaARGSouth America	0.507
93	MexicoMEXCentral America	0.504
94	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	0.487
95	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	0.482
96	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	0.475
97	FijiFJIMelanesia	0.472
98	SeychellesSYCEastern Africa	0.471
99	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	0.466
100	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	0.465
101	PanamaPANCentral America	0.451
102	VenezuelaVENSouth America	0.432
103	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	0.423
=104	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	0.422
=104	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	0.422
106	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	0.420
107	TaiwanTWNEastern Asia	0.416
108	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	0.412
109	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	0.408
110	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	0.398
111	BeninBENWestern Africa	0.397
112	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.376
113	SenegalSENWestern Africa	0.374
114	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	0.358
115	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	0.338
116	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	0.322
117	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	0.309
118	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	0.302
119	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	0.288
120	BrazilBRASouth America	0.280
121	ColombiaCOLSouth America	0.273
122	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	0.271
123	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	0.248
124	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	0.244
125	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	0.232
126	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	0.221
127	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	0.216
128	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	0.211
129	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	0.207
130	SurinameSURSouth America	0.198
131	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	0.185
132	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	0.184
133	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	0.174
134	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	0.172
135	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	0.171
136	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	0.165
137	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	0.159
138	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	0.157
139	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	0.156
140	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	0.140
141	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	0.139
142	ItalyITASouthern Europe	0.129
143	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	0.122
144	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	0.120
145	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	0.111
146	JapanJPNEastern Asia	0.102
147	IsraelISRWestern Asia	0.077
148	Costa RicaCRICentral America	0.076
149	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	0.073
150	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	0.072
151	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	0.071
152	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	0.067
153	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	0.066
154	FranceFRAWestern Europe	0.064
155	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	0.056
156	CanadaCANNorthern America	0.055
157	PolandPOLEastern Europe	0.053
158	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	0.052
=159	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	0.051
=159	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	0.051
=159	UruguayURYSouth America	0.051
162	ChileCHLSouth America	0.049
163	United StatesUSANorthern America	0.047
164	SpainESPSouthern Europe	0.032
165	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	0.024
166	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	0.022
=167	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	0.020
=167	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	0.020
=169	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	0.019
=169	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	0.019
171	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	0.014
172	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	0.011
173	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	0.006

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1North Koreashared0.970
1Uzbekistanshared0.970
3Turkmenistan0.969
4Myanmarshared0.965
4Somaliashared0.965

Lowest

173Denmark0.006
172Norway0.011
171Sweden0.014
169Germanyshared0.019
169Switzerlandshared0.019

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 0.538. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
86values changed, of 172 in both
40 · 46rose · fell
86unchanged

Rose most

Armenia0.687 → 0.786+0.099
Lesotho0.355 → 0.398+0.043
Philippines0.439 → 0.475+0.036
Madagascar0.722 → 0.747+0.025
Eswatini0.606 → 0.629+0.023

Fell most

Slovakia0.300 → 0.221−0.079
Indonesia0.959 → 0.888−0.071
South Korea0.226 → 0.156−0.070
Sierra Leone0.770 → 0.711−0.059
Moldova0.511 → 0.466−0.045

+ Montenegro

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 1998.
156 distinct values among 173
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.051. 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 worse result.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 173 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
173 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download neopatrimonial-rule-1998-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 (1998). Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/neopatrimonial-rule/1998

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 1997
172 countries
The year after ›
Neopatrimonial Rule Index, 1999
175 countries
All of them
Neopatrimonial Rule Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions