Democracy Index 2019

The Democracy Index (DI) is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a UK-based company.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states and two territories.

The index was first published in 2006, with updates for 2008, 2010 and later years.

The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories, measuring pluralism, civil liberties and political culture.

In addition to a numeric score and a ranking, the index categorises each country in one of four regime types: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes.

Democracy Index 2019 Highlights

2019: the worst global score since 2006
In 2019 the average global score fell from 5.48 in 2018 to 5.44 (on a 0-10 scale), the worst result since the Democracy Index began in 2006. The decline in the global democracy score was driven by sharp regressions in the average regional scores in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Around the world: a year of global protest
There was a major increase in political protest and social unrest in emerging-market regions of the world. This was the biggest upsurge of protest since 2014, in the aftermath of the global economic and financial crisis.

Top and bottom
There was little change at the very top and the very bottom of the index. Once again Norway came out on top, with a score of 9.87 (on a scale of 0-10), and North Korea was at the bottom of the global rankings, with a score of 1.08.

Winners and losers
Three countries (Chile, France and Portugal) moved from the “flawed democracy” to the “full democracy” category. Malta moved in the opposite direction, falling out of the “full democracy” category to become a “flawed democracy”. At the other end of the democracy spectrum, Iraq and Palestine moved from being classified as “hybrid regimes” to “authoritarian regimes”.

An overall setback in Latin America, despite some gains
Latin America is the most democratic emerging-market region in the world. However, its overall score fell substantially in 2019, from 6.24 in 2018 to 6.13, a fourth consecutive year of decline.

Asia: a year of drama and tumult
Asian democracies had a tumultuous year in 2019. The biggest score change occurred in Thailand, whose score improved by 1.69 points compared with 2018, to 6.32, resulting in a rise of 38 places in the global rankings and a transition from a “hybrid regime” to a “flawed democracy”. The biggest democracy in the world, India, dropped ten places in the Democracy Index’s global ranking, to 51st place. India’s overall score fell from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in 2019. The primary cause of the democratic regression was an erosion of civil liberties in the country.

MENA: a turbulent year
Challenging geopolitical circumstances, economic stagnation and corruption have all fed through into rising popular frustration with the political status quo in several countries, including Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Sudan.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s democracy drought
Sub-Saharan Africa, which is highly populated by authoritarian regimes (they account for half of the region’s 44 countries that are scored in the Democracy Index), experienced a significant democratic regression in 2019.

Eastern Europe’s democratic malaise persists
In 2019 eastern Europe’s average score in the Democracy Index remained unchanged from 2018, at 5.42. This remains markedly below the region’s score of 5.76 in 2006, when the index was first published.

Western Europe welcomes back two “full democracies” and loses one
Western Europe’s average score in the Democracy Index was stable in 2019 compared with 2018, at 8.35, after falling slightly in each of the three previous years. Countries in western Europe occupy seven of the top-ten places in the global democracy rankings, including the top three spots, and the region boasts the largest number of “full democracies” of anywhere in the world, with a total of 15. In 2019 two countries—France and Portugal—moved from the “flawed democracy” to the “full democracy” category, and one—Malta—moved in the other direction.

Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit

Democracy Index 2019 – Full Report

Democracy Index 2019 – Full List