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Indicator

Electoral Democracy Index by African country

2025

V-Dem electoral democracy (polyarchy) index on a 0-1 scale (higher is more democratic).

Africa, 202554 of 54 countries
0.357population-weighted average
Highest in 2025Seychelles · 0.760Lowest in 2025Eritrea · 0.069Reported in 20250 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 0.365Democratic Republic of the Congo — 0.306Somalia — 0.165Kenya — 0.563Sudan — 0.130Chad — 0.242South Africa — 0.743Lesotho — 0.661Zimbabwe — 0.268Botswana — 0.665Namibia — 0.633Senegal — 0.633Mali — 0.164Mauritania — 0.328Benin — 0.493Niger — 0.227Nigeria — 0.505Cameroon — 0.260Togo — 0.351Ghana — 0.711Cote d'Ivoire — 0.394Guinea — 0.187Guinea-Bissau — 0.252Liberia — 0.597Sierra Leone — 0.471Burkina Faso — 0.134Central African Republic — 0.293Republic of the Congo — 0.243Gabon — 0.302Equatorial Guinea — 0.172Zambia — 0.497Malawi — 0.557Mozambique — 0.279Eswatini — 0.128Angola — 0.344Burundi — 0.185Madagascar — 0.361Gambia — 0.641Tunisia — 0.395Algeria — 0.265Eritrea — 0.069Morocco — 0.259Egypt — 0.187Libya — 0.193Ethiopia — 0.257Djibouti — 0.250Uganda — 0.253Rwanda — 0.193South Sudan — 0.133Nigeria 0.505Nigeria 0.505Ethiopia 0.257Ethiopia 0.257Kenya 0.563Kenya 0.563South Africa 0.743South Africa 0.7432025HIGHEST IN 2025Seychellesnot drawn0.760Cabo Verdenot drawn0.745South Africa0.743Mauritiusnot drawn0.738Ghana0.711LOWEST IN 2025Eritrea0.069Eswatini0.128Sudan0.130South Sudan0.133Burkina Faso0.134PINNEDEthiopia0.25735 of 54Kenya0.56313 of 54Nigeria0.50515 of 54OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNComorosnot drawn0.293Sao Tome and Principenot drawn0.632index · quintiles of the observed range0.070.190.260.350.60.76no record
20142025
OWID (CPI, V-Dem) · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Southern Africa5 of 5 countries0.723
Western Africa16 of 16 countries0.448
Eastern Africa18 of 18 countries0.327
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries0.297
Northern Africa6 of 6 countries0.209
Africaall 54 countries · 54 with a 2025 figure0.357

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
54 countries have a modelled 2025 figureThe provider estimated or projected it rather than measuring it that year. Those points are tagged Modelled in the table and drawn like any other on the map — read the tag before you quote the number.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2025 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Electoral Democracy IndexV-Dem electoral democracy (polyarchy) index on a 0-1 scale (higher is more democratic).
SourceOWID (CPI, V-Dem), with processing by Africa API
Unitindex
Last updated19 Jun 2026
Next expected updateJun 2027
Date range1960–2025
Coverage54 of 54 countries · 0 reported, 54 modelled, 0 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 0 countries did so for 2025 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2025 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Electoral Democracy Index". Data adapted from OWID (CPI, V-Dem). Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/electoral-democracy
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=electoral_democracy_index&year=2025&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
GovernanceHomicide RateIntentional homicides per 100,000 people (UNODC via World Bank).GovernanceCorruption Perceptions IndexTransparency International's index of perceived public-sector corruption on a 0-100 scale (higher is cleaner).GovernanceLiberal Democracy IndexV-Dem liberal democracy index — electoral democracy plus liberal checks and protections — on a 0-1 scale.

Electoral Democracy Index: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

54 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryElectoral Democracy IndexPeriod
1Seychelles0.762025
2Cabo Verde0.7452025
3South Africa0.7432025
4Mauritius0.7382025
5Ghana0.7112025
6Botswana0.6652025
7Lesotho0.6612025
8Gambia0.6412025
9Namibia0.6332025
10Senegal0.6332025
11Sao Tome and Principe0.6322025
12Liberia0.5972025
13Kenya0.5632025
14Malawi0.5572025
15Nigeria0.5052025
16Zambia0.4972025
17Benin0.4932025
18Sierra Leone0.4712025
19Tunisia0.3952025
20Cote d'Ivoire0.3942025
21Tanzania0.3652025
22Madagascar0.3612025
23Togo0.3512025
24Angola0.3442025
25Mauritania0.3282025
26Democratic Republic of the Congo0.3062025
27Gabon0.3022025
28Central African Republic0.2932025
29Comoros0.2932025
30Mozambique0.2792025
31Zimbabwe0.2682025
32Algeria0.2652025
33Cameroon0.262025
34Morocco0.2592025
35Ethiopia0.2572025
36Uganda0.2532025
37Guinea-Bissau0.2522025
38Djibouti0.252025
39Republic of the Congo0.2432025
40Chad0.2422025
41Niger0.2272025
42Libya0.1932025
43Rwanda0.1932025
44Egypt0.1872025
45Guinea0.1872025
46Burundi0.1852025
47Equatorial Guinea0.1722025
48Somalia0.1652025
49Mali0.1642025
50Burkina Faso0.1342025
51South Sudan0.1332025
52Sudan0.132025
53Eswatini0.1282025
54Eritrea0.0692025
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 54 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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