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Indicator

Liberal Democracy Index by African country

2025

V-Dem liberal democracy index — electoral democracy plus liberal checks and protections — on a 0-1 scale.

Africa, 202554 of 54 countries
0.229population-weighted average
Highest in 2025Seychelles · 0.680Lowest in 2025Eritrea · 0.009Reported 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 — 0.297Democratic Republic of the Congo — 0.115Somalia — 0.128Kenya — 0.446Sudan — 0.034Chad — 0.062South Africa — 0.633Lesotho — 0.512Zimbabwe — 0.147Botswana — 0.520Namibia — 0.519Senegal — 0.484Mali — 0.150Mauritania — 0.127Benin — 0.323Niger — 0.177Nigeria — 0.311Cameroon — 0.114Togo — 0.157Ghana — 0.606Cote d'Ivoire — 0.228Guinea — 0.095Guinea-Bissau — 0.095Liberia — 0.417Sierra Leone — 0.348Burkina Faso — 0.103Central African Republic — 0.102Republic of the Congo — 0.115Gabon — 0.178Equatorial Guinea — 0.047Zambia — 0.375Malawi — 0.462Mozambique — 0.175Eswatini — 0.097Angola — 0.163Burundi — 0.060Madagascar — 0.187Gambia — 0.522Tunisia — 0.265Algeria — 0.126Eritrea — 0.009Morocco — 0.251Egypt — 0.115Libya — 0.098Ethiopia — 0.100Djibouti — 0.118Uganda — 0.165Rwanda — 0.090South Sudan — 0.064Nigeria 0.311Nigeria 0.311Ethiopia 0.100Ethiopia 0.100Kenya 0.446Kenya 0.446South Africa 0.633South Africa 0.6332025HIGHEST IN 2025Seychellesnot drawn0.680Mauritiusnot drawn0.639South Africa0.633Cabo Verdenot drawn0.631Ghana0.606LOWEST IN 2025Eritrea0.009Sudan0.034Equatorial Guinea0.047Burundi0.060Chad0.062PINNEDEthiopia0.10043 of 54Kenya0.44613 of 54Nigeria0.31118 of 54OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNComorosnot drawn0.132Sao Tome and Principenot drawn0.519index · quintiles of the observed range0.010.10.130.190.460.68no 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 countries0.611
Western Africa16 of 16 countries0.298
Eastern Africa18 of 18 countries0.212
Northern Africa6 of 6 countries0.127
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries0.119
Africaall 54 countries · 54 with a 2025 figure0.229

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

Liberal Democracy IndexV-Dem liberal democracy index — electoral democracy plus liberal checks and protections — on a 0-1 scale.
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) — "Liberal Democracy Index". Data adapted from OWID (CPI, V-Dem). Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/liberal-democracy
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=liberal_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).GovernanceElectoral Democracy IndexV-Dem electoral democracy (polyarchy) index on a 0-1 scale (higher is more democratic).

Liberal 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.

#CountryLiberal Democracy IndexPeriod
1Seychelles0.682025
2Mauritius0.6392025
3South Africa0.6332025
4Cabo Verde0.6312025
5Ghana0.6062025
6Gambia0.5222025
7Botswana0.522025
8Namibia0.5192025
9Sao Tome and Principe0.5192025
10Lesotho0.5122025
11Senegal0.4842025
12Malawi0.4622025
13Kenya0.4462025
14Liberia0.4172025
15Zambia0.3752025
16Sierra Leone0.3482025
17Benin0.3232025
18Nigeria0.3112025
19Tanzania0.2972025
20Tunisia0.2652025
21Morocco0.2512025
22Cote d'Ivoire0.2282025
23Madagascar0.1872025
24Gabon0.1782025
25Niger0.1772025
26Mozambique0.1752025
27Uganda0.1652025
28Angola0.1632025
29Togo0.1572025
30Mali0.152025
31Zimbabwe0.1472025
32Comoros0.1322025
33Somalia0.1282025
34Mauritania0.1272025
35Algeria0.1262025
36Djibouti0.1182025
37Democratic Republic of the Congo0.1152025
38Egypt0.1152025
39Republic of the Congo0.1152025
40Cameroon0.1142025
41Burkina Faso0.1032025
42Central African Republic0.1022025
43Ethiopia0.12025
44Libya0.0982025
45Eswatini0.0972025
46Guinea0.0952025
47Guinea-Bissau0.0952025
48Rwanda0.092025
49South Sudan0.0642025
50Chad0.0622025
51Burundi0.062025
52Equatorial Guinea0.0472025
53Sudan0.0342025
54Eritrea0.0092025
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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