Following eight years of declines, 2025 marks a stabilization of democracy scores that suggests an end to the global democratic recession, according to The Economist Group’s 2025 Democracy Index.
Almost 75% of countries either saw score improvements from last year or remained constant. One glaring exception is the United States (ranked 34th), where democracy has deteriorated since Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
Globally, the average score in the 2025 Democracy Index rose less than a half of a percent from 5.17 to 5.19, whilst the average score for “flawed democracies” and “hybrid regimes” rose at double that rate, from 6.47 to 6.52. Increases in Western European countries and Canada (ranked 9th) helped drive the overall improvements, possibly due to Trump’s actions creating a pathway for the body politic to galvanize around unifying issues such as mutual defense, preservation of ways of life and economic progress.
“The countries in the middle of our Democracy Index are where the dynamism lies. The end of eight years of democratic decline is a welcome development and a reminder of why the data are valuable. When news emanating from the U.S. and the Trump administration can dominate the news cycle, it is important to recognize the Democracy Index covers 166 other countries and territories in the world. Using EIU’s Operational Risk model, this year we conducted comparative analysis, which showed that countries [that] rank higher in our Democracy Index have lower operational risk. In countries--mainly full and flawed democracies, where institutional quality is high, operating risks are low. This finding confirms what economists have long known: the rule of law and property rights, are among a number of so-called soft data factors that support economic growth. At the other end of the spectrum, autocracies reveal a high level of operating risk and significant dispersion. In these types of regimes, civil liberties and autocracy are not just normative measures--they are direct proxies for the discretionary power of the executive over business operations and capital flows. This connection suggests our Democracy Index is a leading indicator of present and future risk,” says Constance Hunter, chief economist at EIU.
Key takeaways:
· The 2025 index reveals a critical dynamic that could determine the outlook for democracy—the rise and impact of political participation. After almost a decade of falling participation in Latin America and the Caribbean, the region has seen a reversal. Eyes are now turned to Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where younger populations are beginning to demand democratic progress as well.
· Despite the fall in the U.S. score from 7.85 to 7.65, Canada's increased score led to North America’s score elevating from 8.27 to 8.37, with Canada having improved by almost 0.4 points but the United States having declined by 0.2 points.
· The United States fell six spots in the global ranking to 34th, slipping further into the “flawed democracy” category, where it has stood since 2016.
· In 2025, only Angola joined the ranks of “authoritarian regimes” which govern 39.2% of the world population. Following authoritarian regimes, the second largest category in terms of number of countries (48) and world population (28.7%) is the “flawed democracy.”
· Four countries moved from hybrid regimes to flawed democracies: Romania (69th), Malawi (70th), Senegal (72nd), Paraguay (73rd).
