The State of Democracy

The Economist Democracy Index rates countries on the state of their governing system each year. In the latest edition, corresponding to the year 2024, only 25 countries, representing 6.6 percent of the world's population, have been rated as "full democracies". This category includes all Scandinavian countries, several other European nations as well as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Mauritius, Taiwan, Japan and Latin American countries Uruguay and Costa Rica.

With an overall average score of 5.17 out of 10, the 2024 index points to a "continuing democratic malaise" as just 37 countries improved their score, mostly marginally, while 83 countries registered a decline in their score. According to the index, almost 40 percent of the world's population live under authoritarian regimes, with another 16 percent living in so-called hybrid regimes and 38 percent living in flawed democracies, one of which is the United States, which scored particularly badly in "political culture" due to intense political and cultural polarization.

Globally, the three worst-rated countries are Afghanistan, Myanmar and North Korea, which scored 0.0 for non-existing civil liberties, electoral process and pluralism. At the other end of the scale, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden are ranked as the most democratic countries in the world, with Norway scoring a perfect 10 for electoral process and pluralism, political participation and civil liberties.