Democracy Index by Country 2026

The Economist Intelligence Unit compiles and publishes an annual report referred to as the Democracy Index, which measures the state of democracy across the world.

The index uses certain indicators to decipher the democracy score for each country, including electoral process and pluralism, whether they have a functioning government, political participation of its citizens, political culture and environment, and civil liberties.

An index score of 8.01 to 10 (out of 10) indicates a full democracy, while countries that fall between 6.01 and 8.01 are considered flawed democracies. Countries that score lower on the index than 6.01 are not considered democracies.

The United States has a democracy index score of 7.85, which qualifies it as a flawed democracy. While the US scored high on electoral process/pluralism (9.17 out of 10), the country scored low on functioning government (6.43) and political culture (6.25).

Norway has the highest democracy score in the world, with a 9.81, with perfect 10s in electoral process, participation, and political culture.

Second on the list is New Zealand, at 9.61 out of 10, which makes it a full democracy.

The third highest democracy score (9.45) in the world belongs to Iceland. The country boasts a perfect 10 for electoral process and pluralism and 9.71 for civil liberties, which is the second highest score in the category.

Sweden comes in fourth on the democracy index with a score of 9.39, with a score of 10 regarding political culture.

Finland scores slightly lower at 9.30, due in part to a lower score on political participation.

A little below that is Denmark, with a democracy score of 9.28 out of 10. The slightly lower score is due to political participation.

As a full democracy, Ireland ranks seventh on the index with a score of 9.19.

Switzerland’s level of political participation lowers the democracy index score to 9.15.

The Netherlands has an index score of 9.0, resulting in part from lower political participation and civil liberties scores.

Rounding out the top ten is Taiwan, scoring lower in terms of political participation and culture.