2025 EIU Democracy Index shows global stabilization after decline

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Summary

The latest 2025 EIU Democracy Index indicates a stabilization of global democracy after eight years of decline, with nearly 75 percent of countries seeing score improvements or stability. While the global average score rose slightly to 5.2 out of 10 across 167 countries, the United States experienced a decline from 7.85 to 7.65, leading to its classification as a "flawed democracy" and a rank of 35th overall, between Poland and Botswana. This drop reflects deteriorating civil liberties and heightened political polarization during the Trump administration. In contrast, a total of 26 countries, including all Scandinavian nations, Canada, and New Zealand, were classified as full democracies, underscoring a small share of the global population—only 6.6 percent—living under such regimes.

Analysis

EIU: The Economist Intelligence Unit is a research organization that produces the annual Democracy Index, a global benchmark evaluating the quality of democracy based on electoral processes, governance, civil liberties, political participation, and political culture. The 2025 edition of this index forms the core of the reported news, showing a slight global improvement and stabilization after years of decline. The EIU's assessments are widely referenced by media and analysts for understanding shifts in political systems worldwide. Norway: Norway is a constitutional monarchy in Scandinavia known for its strong democratic institutions. It ranked among the top countries in the 2025 EIU Democracy Index, praised particularly for electoral process and pluralism, political participation, and civil liberties. Norway is frequently highlighted as a model of high-performing democracy alongside New Zealand and Denmark. Felix Richter: Felix Richter is an analyst and reporter at Statista who covers data-driven stories on global trends. He reported on key findings from the 2025 EIU Democracy Index, specifically highlighting the United States' score decline and reclassification as a flawed democracy. United States: The United States is a federal republic whose democratic performance is tracked in global indices. In the 2025 EIU Democracy Index, it was classified as a flawed democracy after its score declined, with noted deterioration in civil liberties under the Trump administration and challenges from political polarization. The country ranked 35th globally, between Poland and Botswana. Index Categories: The EIU Democracy Index evaluates countries across electoral processes, governance, civil liberties, political participation, and political culture to determine overall democratic quality. Consistent Top Performers: Scandinavian nations such as Norway and Denmark have long been recognized for exemplary performance in electoral integrity and civil liberties within global democracy assessments. Global Population Distribution: A small share of the world's population lives in full democracies, while a substantial portion resides in authoritarian regimes including major examples like China.