The Economist Democracy Index

As described in the report, the Democracy Index produces a weighted average based on the answers to 60 questions, or indicators, each one with either two or three permitted answers. Most answers are experts' assessments. Some answers are provided by public-opinion surveys from the respective countries. In the case of countries for which survey results are missing, survey results for similar countries and expert assessments are used in order to fill in gaps. The questions are grouped into five categories: • electoral process and pluralism (12 indicators) • functioning of government (14 indicators) • political participation (9 indicators) • political culture (8 indicators) • civil liberties (17 indicators) Each answer is converted to a score, either 0 or 1, or for the three-answer questions, 0, 0.5 or 1. With the exceptions mentioned below, within each category, the scores are added, multiplied by ten, and divided by the total number of questions within the category. There are a few modifying dependencies, which are explained much more precisely than the main rule procedures. In a few cases, an answer yielding zero for one question voids another question; e.g., if the elections for the national legislature and head of government are not considered free (question 1), then the next question, "Are elections... fair?", is not considered, but automatically scored zero. Likewise, there are a few questions considered so important that a low score on them yields a penalty on the total score sum for their respective categories, namely: • "Whether national elections are free and fair"; • "The security of voters"; • "The influence of foreign powers on government"; • "The capability of the civil servants to implement policies". The five category indices, which are listed in the report, are then averaged to find the overall score for a given country. Finally, the score, rounded to two decimals, decides the regime-type classification of the country. The report discusses other indices of democracy, as defined, e.g., by Freedom House, and argues for some of the choices made by the team from the Economist Intelligence Unit. In this comparison, a higher emphasis is placed on the public opinion and attitudes, as measured by surveys, but on the other hand, economic living-standards are not weighted as one criterion of democracy (as seemingly some other investigators have done). The report is widely cited in the international press as well as in peer-reviewed academic journals. == Definitions ==

• Full democracies are countries where civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are not only respected but also reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. These nations have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary whose decisions are enforced, governments that function adequately, and diverse and independent media. These nations have only limited problems in democratic functioning. • Flawed democracies are countries where elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honoured, but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement and minor suppression of political opposition and critics). These countries can have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including an underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance. • Hybrid regimes are countries with regular electoral fraud, preventing them from being fair and free democracies. These countries commonly have non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, and weak rule of law. Political opponents and the media face harassment and pressure from governments. These countries have a less-developed political culture, lower levels of participation in politics, and more pronounced issues in the functioning of governance compared to flawed democracies. • Authoritarian regimes are countries where political pluralism is nonexistent or severely limited. These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships and may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance. Infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections (if they take place) are not fair or free (especially sham elections), the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and censorship and suppression of governmental criticism are commonplace. == By regime type ==

The following table indicates the number of nations and the percentage of world population for each type of regime. Some microstates are not considered in the calculation. == List by region ==

The following table lists the average of each country scored by geographic region, as defined by the Economist Democracy Index. The following table lists the number of countries in each of the four democracy classifications. == List by country ==

The following table shows each nation's score over the years. The regions are assigned by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and may differ from conventional classifications (for example, Turkey is grouped in Western Europe). • Asia and Australasia • Eastern Europe and Central Asia • Latin America and the Caribbean • Middle East and North Africa • North America • Sub-Saharan Africa • Western Europe == Components ==

The following table shows the five parameters that made up the score of each nation in 2025 and the changes that had occurred since 2024. == Countries not listed ==

The Democracy Index does not cover some UN member states, namely Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brunei, Dominica, the Federated States of Micronesia, Grenada, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. == Recent changes ==

In 2016, the United States was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy; and soared to 11th (8.94) position from its previous position at 33rd (7.73), surpassing Switzerland, which ranked 12th. Japan and South Korea were also upgraded again to full democracies, while France and Portugal were once again relegated to flawed democracies. Hong Kong was downgraded from a flawed democracy to a hybrid regime. Algeria was downgraded again from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime. The Economist Intelligence Unit noted that democracy "was dealt a major blow in 2020". In 2024, the global average once again trended downwards, largely due to continued and expanded crackdowns in dissent in authoritarian regimes. The average score for democracies remained the same, despite 2024 being a major election year. One of the most notable declines was South Korea's downgrade from a full democracy to a flawed democracy, mainly as a result of the political crisis caused by President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in December. Romania's score fell by 0.46 points to 5.99 after controversially cancelling a presidential election, making it the first EU member state to be classified as a hybrid regime. The Czech Republic's score rose from 7.97 to 8.08, which reupgraded it to a full democracy. In 2025, Moldova was downgraded to a hybrid regime while Angola fell into the ranks of the authoritarian. Romania, Paraguay, Malawi and Senegal rejoined the ranks of flawed democracies while France was upgraded to a full democracy. The United States of America lost 0.2 overall to remain a flawed democracy, while most other democracies held their ground or (like France) improved slightly. == See also ==