← News Data story · V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index 2025 The world’s strongest
The world’s strongest
democracy is Denmark.
0.884
liberal democracy index (0–1)
#1 of 179 countries · Europe & Central Asia
#1 of 179 countries · Europe & Central Asia
V-Dem’s expert-coded index combines free and fair elections, rule of law, and checks on power into a single 0–1 score. Here is who leads — and who sits at the bottom.
The top 20
Liberal democracy index, 2025.
1 Denmark 0.884
2 Sweden 0.853
3 Norway 0.847
4 Switzerland 0.843
5 Estonia 0.837
6 Ireland 0.822
7 Costa Rica 0.809
8 Finland 0.808
9 France 0.800
10 Belgium 0.794
11 Czechia 0.794
12 Australia 0.793
13 Uruguay 0.790
14 New Zealand 0.787
15 Germany 0.782
16 Chile 0.781
17 Luxembourg 0.777
18 Netherlands 0.774
19 Austria 0.757
20 Latvia 0.751
At the other end
The five lowest-scoring countries, 2025.
↓ Eritrea 0.009
↓ North Korea 0.014
↓ Burma/Myanmar 0.015
↓ Afghanistan 0.018
↓ Nicaragua 0.019
Source: V-Dem Institute. See it on the world map →