The World's Most Democratic Countries

Every year the Economist Intelligence Unit ranks the state of democracy in 167 countries around the world. This year's Democracy Index rankings show a very, very small rise in democracy around the world. Since 2016 the world has been experiencing a democracy recession, with a higher number of countries seeing an annual fall in their Democracy Index scores than the number seeing a rise. This year the global score actually rose by 0.01. 

The Economist has mapped out the country rankings of the Democracy Index in its article The World's Most, and Least, Democratic Countries. On this map authoritarian regimes are colored red and democratic countries are colored blue. If you hover over a country on the map you can view its Democracy Index score and its overall ranking.

Norway leads the way in the country rankings, with the highest Democracy Index score of all countries. In 2022 Russia saw the largest decline in its Democracy Index ranking, falling to 146th overall. Afghanistan achieved the worst score and comes bottom of all 167 countries around the world.

The United States is ranked 30th overall, with a Democracy Index score of 7.85. This score means that the Untied States is ranked as a 'flawed democracy'. Democracy Index scores are determined based on five measures, "electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties."

You can read the full Democracy Index 2022 report on the Economist Intelligence Unit website.