Topic 01 of 18 · Country Index 2026

Governance & Institutions

How well is the state actually run?

Denmark is placed first of 194 countries on governance & institutions in the Country Index 2026, and Venezuela 194th. The standing rests on 4 key statistics; the other 30 on this page are published as context, with no vote.

Placed first · Country Index 2026Denmark

1st of 194

194countries placed
30measured, not placed
4key statistics
34statistics in all
12publishers
2024–2025the years the keys describe

01Country Index 2026

Who leads on governance & institutions

The three countries placed highest of 194, the three placed lowest, and the country placed highest on each continent. Each position is a place in this topic’s own list, built from its key statistics.

1
Denmark
Northern Europe
1st of 194 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: User:Aconcagua · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2
New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand
2nd of 194 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Karora derivative work: Inkey · Public domain, greyscale
3
Sweden
Northern Europe
3rd of 194 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale

Placed lowest on Governance & Institutions

Positions out of 194. A standing is relative: it says where a country places against the others measured, not that it scored zero.

Placed first on each continent · position among all 194

02The subject

About governance & institutions

How well a state is actually run: whether the law binds those who write it, how much corruption the people who deal with government perceive, how competently public administration delivers, and whether the statute book treats citizens equally. These measure institutions rather than politics — a country can hold elections and still govern badly, and the reverse.

Governance is about the machinery of the state rather than who controls it. A government can be elected or not, left or right, large or small, and still be honest or corrupt, competent or chaotic. This topic asks the second set of questions: whether the people who deal with officials meet corruption, whether public services and the civil service deliver what they promise, whether a government keeps to the policies it announces, and whether those who hold power are themselves bound by the constitution and the courts.

It also asks something less visible but just as telling: whether a state knows its own country. A government that cannot count its population, publish its statistics openly or put modern data tools to work is governing partly blind, and every other public service inherits that blindness. Capacity and honesty are measured separately here because a state can have one without the other.

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.

03The evidence

The 4 statistics that decide it

These are the only statistics that place countries on governance & institutions — one vote each. Every number is somebody else’s research, reproduced without adjustment; the ordering on top is this site’s.

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.
Edition used
2025data for 2025
Countries
209
Publisher’s rank
None — values only
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Current leader, 2025 editionSingapore
Every country, every 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.
Edition used
2024data for 2024
Countries
188
Publisher’s rank
None — values only
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Current leader, 2024 editionNorway
Every country, every 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.
Edition used
2025data for 2025
Countries
182
Publisher’s rank
Published
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (the data), CC BY-ND 4.0 (the website and report)
Current leader, 2025 editionDenmark
Every country, every 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.
Edition used
2025data for 2025
Countries
176
Publisher’s rank
None — values only
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Current leader, 2025 editionAustralia
Every country, every edition
How the keys combine
Each country’s value on each key becomes its place in that key’s own field, as a share of the field. The shares are averaged, one vote per key, and only the order that produces is published.
The method in full

04Every placed country

Governance & Institutions on a map

Darker is placed higher. Hover a country for its position, or select it to open its page. Below the map, each continent’s median position — half its placed countries sit at or above it, so lower is better.

All regions

1st194thNot placed · 30 countries with too few key statisticsNo data

1st of 5 continents
Europe
33rd
median position, of 194 · 41 of its 49 countries placed
HighestDenmark
2nd of 5 continents
Americas
91st
median position, of 194 · 35 of its 48 countries placed
HighestCanada
3rd of 5 continents
Asia
99th
median position, of 194 · 50 of its 52 countries placed
HighestJapan
4th of 5 continents
Oceania
121st
median position, of 194 · 14 of its 21 countries placed
HighestNew Zealand
5th of 5 continents
Africa
146th
median position, of 194 · 54 of its 55 countries placed
HighestSeychelles
Every region

All 22 sub-regions on Governance & Institutions, best median first

1Australia and New Zealandmedian 2ndfrom 2 of 2New Zealand2
2Northern Americamedian 8thfrom 2 of 4Canada8
3Northern Europemedian 9thfrom 10 of 13Denmark1
4Western Europemedian 15thfrom 7 of 9Switzerland6
5Eastern Asiamedian 36thfrom 7 of 8Japan=10
6Southern Europemedian 46thfrom 14 of 17Spain=23
7Eastern Europemedian 47thfrom 10 of 10Czechia22
8South-eastern Asiamedian 79thfrom 11 of 11Singapore12
9Caribbeanmedian 82ndfrom 13 of 24Barbados45
10Southern Africamedian 84thfrom 5 of 5South Africa=54
11Western Asiamedian 90thfrom 18 of 19Israel=25
12South Americamedian 94thfrom 12 of 12Chile=23
13Melanesiamedian 98thfrom 4 of 5Fiji50
14Central Americamedian 101stfrom 8 of 8Costa Rica32
15Northern Africamedian 110thfrom 6 of 6Morocco74
16Polynesiamedian 124thfrom 3 of 7Samoa=106
17Southern Asiamedian 130thfrom 9 of 9Bhutan51
18Western Africamedian 131stfrom 16 of 16Cabo Verde48
19Central Asiamedian 137thfrom 5 of 5Kazakhstan99
20Eastern Africamedian 144thfrom 18 of 19Seychelles38
21Micronesiamedian 157thfrom 5 of 7Palau117
22Middle Africamedian 175thfrom 9 of 9São Tomé and Príncipe=127

05The whole field

Where all 194 countries stand

In order, best first. A row resting on fewer keys rests on less evidence: a country needs 2 of the 4 to be placed at all. “=” marks a position shared with another country. Select a country to see the working behind its standing.

The full Country Index 2026

Search this list

Showing 25 of 194 countries placed on Governance & Institutions

30 countries measured in the index but not placed on governance & institutions

Each holds readings on too few of this topic’s key statistics to be placed. Their profiles still show every reading the publishers give.

06Beyond the headline

A different story

The countries placed furthest above and below their overall position in the Country Index 2026. Both positions are compared as a share of their own field, because 50th of 193 and 50th of 174 are not the same showing.

Placed higher on Governance & Institutions than overall

Placed lower on Governance & Institutions than overall

07In records

Governance in records

One country at the extreme of a statistic under this topic, read from its newest edition. Where countries tie at the top, no record is named.

All statistics

Perceived as least corrupt
Denmark
89
on Transparency International’s 0–100 scale
Transparency International · data for 2025
Most effective government
Singapore
2.092
on the World Bank’s −2.5 to 2.5 scale
World Bank Group · data for 2025
Strongest national statistics
Norway
94.14
on the World Bank’s 0–100 SPI scale
World Bank Group · data for 2024

08Latest editions

Who rose and fell in the published ranks

The biggest moves between each report’s two newest editions, in the publisher’s own ranks — reports under this topic that print a rank. A report whose field changed by more than 5% is left out.

Ranks as published by Transparency International in the Corruption Perceptions Index: the 2024 edition (180 countries ranked) → the 2025 edition (182 ranked).

Improved most

rank before → after

Azerbaijan154 → 130+24
Sri Lanka121 → 107+14
El Salvador130 → 120+10

Declined most

rank before → after

Eswatini135 → 153−18
Niger107 → 124−17
Türkiye107 → 124−17

Every country in the Corruption Perceptions Index

09Context, no vote

Also measured under governance & institutions

30 more statistics on the same subject, published in full and deliberately given no vote — keeping them out is what stops the standing drifting toward whichever kind of statistic was imported most. Select a row for its leader and trend.

All statistics

Control of CorruptionWorld Bank Group · 211 countries · 2025World Bank Group2112025
Current leader:Denmark
World Bank Group · 27 editions, data 1996–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Rule of LawWorld Bank Group · 211 countries · 2025World Bank Group2112025
Current leader:Finland
World Bank Group · 27 editions, data 1996–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Regulatory QualityWorld Bank Group · 209 countries · 2025World Bank Group2092025
Current leader:Singapore
World Bank Group · 27 editions, data 1996–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Social Protection CoverageILO · 208 countries · 2025ILO2082025
International Labour Organization (ILO) · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Voice and AccountabilityWorld Bank Group · 206 countries · 2025World Bank Group2062025
Current leader:Norway
World Bank Group · 27 editions, data 1996–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Civic Space RatingsCIVICUS · 198 countries · 2025CIVICUS1982025
Current leader:Kiribati
CIVICUS · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
GovTech Maturity IndexWorld Bank Group · 196 countries · 2025World Bank Group1962025
Current leader:South Korea
World Bank Group · 2 editions, data 2022–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Government AI Readiness IndexOxford Insights · 195 countries · 2025Oxford Insights1952025
Current leader:United States
Oxford Insights · 6 editions, data 2020–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Climate Readiness (ND-GAIN)Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 192 countries · 2024Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame1922024
Current leader:Singapore
Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 30 editions, data 1995–2024
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Women, Business and the LawWorld Bank Group · 190 countries · 2024World Bank Group1902024
World Bank Group · 54 editions, data 1971–2024
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Completeness of Birth RegistrationUNICEF · 185 countries · 2025UNICEF1852025
UNICEF · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Liberal Democracy IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries · 2025V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg1762025
Current leader:Denmark
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 36 editions, data 1990–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Political Corruption IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries · 2025V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg1762025
Most affected:Venezuela
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 36 editions, data 1990–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
V-Dem Electoral Democracy IndexV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 176 countries · 2025V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg1762025
Current leader:Denmark
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 36 editions, data 1990–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
State Authority over TerritoryV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 174 countries · 2025V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg1742025
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 36 editions, data 1990–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Open Data InventoryOpen Data Watch · 168 countries · 2024Open Data Watch1682024
Open Data Watch · 7 editions, data 2015–2024
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Trade Union DensityILO · 139 countries · 2020ILO1392020
Current leader:Iceland
International Labour Organization (ILO) · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2020 dataset
Agriculture Orientation IndexFAO · 132 countries · 2024FAO1322024
Current leader:Singapore
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · 24 editions, data 2001–2024
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Government Spending on EducationUIS · 123 countries · 2023UIS1232023
Current leader:Kiribati
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · 51 editions, data 1971–2023
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
External Debt Stocks (% of GNI)World Bank Group · 110 countries · 2024World Bank Group1102024
Most affected:Mozambique
World Bank Group · 44 editions, data 1981–2024
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Debt Service on External DebtWorld Bank Group · 109 countries · 2024World Bank Group1092024
Most affected:El Salvador
World Bank Group · 43 editions, data 1982–2024
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Country Policy and Institutional AssessmentWorld Bank Group · 78 countries · 2025World Bank Group782025
Current leader:Rwanda
World Bank Group · 21 editions, data 2005–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Government Funding per Primary StudentUIS · 68 countries · 2022UIS682022
Current leader:South Korea
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · 24 editions, data 1999–2022
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset
Business Ready: Operational EfficiencyWorld Bank Group · 50 countries · 2024World Bank Group502024
Current leader:Singapore
World Bank Group · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Business Ready: Public ServicesWorld Bank Group · 50 countries · 2024World Bank Group502024
Current leader:Estonia
World Bank Group · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Business Ready: Regulatory FrameworkWorld Bank Group · 50 countries · 2024World Bank Group502024
Current leader:Hungary
World Bank Group · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset

Describing the shape of a country (4)

These have no better end — more is not better or worse, only different — so they could not place countries even as keys.

Central Bank Independence IndexAna Carolina Garriga, University of Essex · 191 countries · 2023Ana Carolina Garriga, University of Essex1912023
Highest:Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ana Carolina Garriga, University of Essex · 54 editions, data 1970–2023
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Public Sector Wage BillWorld Bank Group · 168 countries · 2022World Bank Group1682022
Highest:Nauru
World Bank Group · 23 editions, data 2000–2022
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset
Public Sector EmploymentWorld Bank Group · 135 countries · 2022World Bank Group1352022
Highest:Maldives
World Bank Group · 1 edition
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset
General Government ConsumptionWorld Bank Group · 132 countries · 2025World Bank Group1322025
Highest:Ukraine
World Bank Group · 56 editions, data 1970–2025
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset

10Analysis

Charts and analysis on governance & institutions

All charts

May 29, 2025
WJP Rule of Law Index 2024: Which Countries Lead in Justice and Accountability?
The thirteen strongest of the 142 countries the World Justice Project measures, and the eight factors the overall score averages. Four countries are published at 0.83 and still carry separate ranks.

11Keep reading

Explore further

All topics

The most-read profiles, on Governance & Institutions

How Governance & Institutions relates to the other topics

Moves most with: Economy & InnovationCountries place very similarly on both. (0.83, 176 countries)
Moves most with: Development & Human CapitalCountries place similarly on both. (0.76, 191 countries)
Moves least with: Environment & SustainabilityCountries placed high on one tend to place low on the other. (-0.53, 181 countries)

Rank correlation of the two topics’ positions across the countries placed on both: 1 means the same order, 0 no link. Every pair of topics

The other topics

The full Country Index 2026

12Method

Questions, method and sources

Which country is placed first on governance & institutions in the Country Index 2026?

Denmark, of the 194 countries given a standing on Governance & Institutions. The standing is this site’s own, built from 4 key statistics by 12 publishers; it is not a rank any of those publishers printed.

Which country is placed last on governance & institutions?

Venezuela, 194th of 194. A standing says how a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move.

Which statistics decide the Governance & Institutions standing?

Government Effectiveness, Statistical Performance Indicators, Corruption Perceptions Index, Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index. Each is read at one edition and turned into a place within its own field; the places are averaged with one vote each. The other 30 statistics on this topic are published as context and have no vote.

Why is a country not placed on governance & institutions?

A country needs readings on at least 2 of the 4 key statistics before it is placed. 30 countries in the Country Index fall short on this topic; every reading the publishers do give for them is still on their profiles.

Are these the publishers’ own rankings?

The underlying numbers and any printed ranks are the publishers’, reproduced without adjustment on each statistic’s page. The standing that combines them is this site’s, and the average it is ordered by is never published — only the position it produces.

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 30 statistics on this page come from 11 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

The countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

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). Governance & Institutions: country standings, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/topics/governance