Most Liberal Countries 2025

Liberal Democracy Index

Top ↓

Last ↑

Liberal Democracy Index

1.	Sweden	0.88
2.	Denmark	0.88
3.	Norway	0.86
4.	Costa Rica	0.85
5.	Estonia	0.84
6.	New Zealand	0.84
7.	Switzerland	0.84
8.	Finland	0.83
9.	Germany	0.82
10.	Ireland	0.82
11.	Belgium	0.82
12.	Netherlands	0.81
13.	Portugal	0.81
14.	Australia	0.81
15.	Luxembourg	0.8
16.	France	0.8
17.	South Korea	0.79
18.	Spain	0.78
19.	United Kingdom	0.78
20.	Italy	0.77
21.	Chile	0.77
22.	Slovakia	0.77
23.	Uruguay	0.76
24.	Canada	0.76
25.	Iceland	0.75
26.	Austria	0.75
27.	Japan	0.74
28.	Lithuania	0.74
29.	United States	0.74
30.	Latvia	0.73
31.	Czech Republic	0.71
32.	Taiwan	0.7
33.	Jamaica	0.69
34.	Cyprus	0.69
35.	Barbados	0.68
36.	Greece	0.67
37.	Argentina	0.66
38.	Vanuatu	0.66
39.	Trinidad and Tobago	0.66
40.	Peru	0.65
41.	Israel	0.65
42.	Suriname	0.65
43.	Romania	0.64
44.	Malta	0.64
45.	Croatia	0.63
46.	Moldova	0.62
47.	Slovenia	0.6
48.	South Africa	0.59
49.	Sao Tome and Principe	0.58
50.	Seychelles	0.57
51.	Ghana	0.57
52.	Panama	0.56
53.	Armenia	0.56
54.	Senegal	0.55
55.	Bulgaria	0.55
56.	Malawi	0.53
57.	Namibia	0.51
58.	Brazil	0.51
59.	Lesotho	0.5
60.	Mongolia	0.49
61.	Georgia	0.49
62.	Timor Leste	0.49
63.	Botswana	0.49
64.	Bhutan	0.48
65.	Burkina Faso	0.48
66.	Solomon Islands	0.47
67.	Dominican Republic	0.47
68.	Colombia	0.47
69.	Ecuador	0.47
70.	Mauritius	0.46
71.	Nepal	0.46
72.	Liberia	0.46
73.	Tunisia	0.46
74.	Maldives	0.45
75.	Indonesia	0.43
76.	Paraguay	0.43
77.	Sierra Leone	0.43
78.	Poland	0.41
79.	Gambia	0.41
80.	Albania	0.4
81.	Kenya	0.4
82.	Niger	0.4
83.	North Macedonia	0.4
84.	Montenegro	0.39
85.	Mexico	0.39
86.	Sri Lanka	0.38
87.	Bolivia	0.37
88.	Guyana	0.37
89.	Hungary	0.36
90.	Guinea Bissau	0.36
91.	India	0.36
92.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.35
93.	Nigeria	0.34
94.	Papua New Guinea	0.34
95.	Singapore	0.33
96.	Guatemala	0.32
97.	Ukraine	0.32
98.	Tanzania	0.31
99.	Zambia	0.3
100.	Malaysia	0.29
101.	Lebanon	0.28
102.	Philippines	0.28
103.	Benin	0.28
104.	Kuwait	0.27
105.	Fiji	0.27
106.	Kyrgyzstan	0.27
107.	Jordan	0.25
108.	Serbia	0.24
109.	Ivory Coast	0.24
110.	Madagascar	0.24
111.	Morocco	0.24
112.	Mozambique	0.24
113.	Honduras	0.24
114.	Pakistan	0.23
115.	Iraq	0.22
116.	El Salvador	0.22
117.	Uganda	0.21
118.	Haiti	0.21
119.	Gabon	0.21
120.	Hong Kong	0.2
121.	Togo	0.2
122.	Angola	0.19
123.	Zimbabwe	0.19
124.	Mali	0.18
125.	Thailand	0.17
126.	Mauritania	0.17
127.	Central African Republic	0.16
128.	DR Congo	0.16
129.	Ethiopia	0.15
130.	Libya	0.15
131.	Algeria	0.15
132.	Palestine	0.14
133.	Oman	0.14
134.	Kazakhstan	0.13
135.	Cameroon	0.13
136.	Comoros	0.13
137.	Vietnam	0.13
138.	Djibouti	0.12
139.	Iran	0.12
140.	Egypt	0.12
141.	Rwanda	0.12
142.	Bangladesh	0.12
143.	Turkey	0.12
144.	Guinea	0.11
145.	Eswatini	0.11
146.	Republic of the Congo	0.11
147.	Russia	0.1
148.	Laos	0.1
149.	Somalia	0.09
150.	Uzbekistan	0.09
151.	Qatar	0.09
152.	Myanmar	0.08
153.	Sudan	0.08
154.	United Arab Emirates	0.08
155.	Cuba	0.08
156.	Burundi	0.08
157.	Venezuela	0.07
158.	Azerbaijan	0.07
159.	Chad	0.07
160.	Cambodia	0.07
161.	South Sudan	0.06
162.	Nicaragua	0.06
163.	Equatorial Guinea	0.05
164.	Bahrain	0.05
165.	Tajikistan	0.05
166.	China	0.04
167.	Saudi Arabia	0.04
168.	Turkmenistan	0.04
169.	Syria	0.04
170.	Belarus	0.04
171.	Yemen	0.03
172.	Afghanistan	0.02
173.	North Korea	0.02
174.	Eritrea	0.01

↑

Interactive Map
Liberalism around the World
By Region
Table

Liberalism around the World

Today, liberalism is increasingly becoming a dominant political ideology in many countries, characterized by the pursuit of liberty, equal rights, and social justice. Different nations demonstrate their liberal tendencies through their political practices, societal norms, and legislations. The 'Liberal Democracy Index' offers a comprehensive analysis of how liberal various countries are, based on an array of factors such as social liberties, political freedoms, rule of law, and governmental systems.

Scandinavian countries lead in liberalism. Sweden and Denmark top the Liberal Democracy Index with scores of 0.88 and 0.86 respectively. Norway isn't far behind at 0.86.
Costa Rica and Estonia stand out remarkably among their geographical neighbors. Despite being surrounded by countries with lower scores, Costa Rica and Estonia rank 4th and 5th on the index. Costa Rica scores 0.85, the highest within Latin America, while Estonia, with a score of 0.84, ranks the highest among Eastern European nations, surpassing even some Western European states.
While New Zealand and Australia are often aligned culturally, there is a noticeable gap in their liberalism scores. New Zealand, ranking 6th, outpaces Australia, which rests at the 14th position. New Zealand scores 0.84, contrasting with Australia's lower score of 0.81.
Within the United States, known for its long-standing democratic traditions, liberalism is moderately high. The United States is positioned at 29th place, holding a score of 0.74.
A striking finding is the low liberalism scores of numerous Middle Eastern and African countries. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Yemen, and North Korea occupy the bottom positions in the list with scores below 0.05

By Region

Afghanistan

See Less

Metric

Value

Rank

Most Liberal Countries

Table of Contents

Liberalism around the World

By Region

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Angola

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

DR Congo

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Ivory Coast

Jamaica