Countries by Voice and Accountability: Percentile Rank, Lower Bound of 90% Confidence Interval

Norway ranks 1st in the 2023 Voice and Accountability lower-bound percentile ranking with a score of 96.08%, the highest among 203 countries measured. At the other end, eight countries including North Korea, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Eritrea score 0.00%. The 96-point gap between the top and bottom reflects the wide divergence in governance conditions recorded across the dataset.

Governance category

Ranking 2023

Values shown in %.

Countries by Voice and Accountability: Percentile Rank, Lower Bound of 90% Confidence Interval
Rank	Country	%
1	Norway	96.08
2	Denmark	95.10
3	New Zealand	94.61
4	Finland	94.12
4	Luxembourg	94.12
6	Switzerland	93.63
7	Netherlands	92.65
7	Sweden	92.65
9	Australia	92.16
9	Ireland	92.16
11	Germany	91.67
12	Canada	89.71
13	Austria	89.22
14	Iceland	87.75
15	Belgium	86.27
15	Liechtenstein	86.27
17	Uruguay	82.35
18	Estonia	80.88
18	Portugal	80.88
18	United Kingdom	80.88
21	Spain	79.41
22	France	77.45
23	Barbados	76.96
23	Greenland	76.96
23	Italy	76.96
26	Czechia	75.98
26	Japan	75.98
26	Lithuania	75.98
26	Slovenia	75.98
30	Costa Rica	74.51
31	Chile	72.55
31	Cyprus	72.55
31	Greece	72.55
31	Latvia	72.55
31	Tuvalu	72.55
36	San Marino	71.57
37	Aruba	69.61
37	Cabo Verde	69.61
37	South Korea	69.61
37	Malta	69.61
37	Slovakia	69.61
37	United States	69.61
43	Kiribati	69.12
43	Marshall Islands	69.12
45	Bahamas	66.67
46	Micronesia	66.18
46	Palau	66.18
46	Samoa	66.18
49	Andorra	64.71
50	South Africa	64.22
51	Poland	61.76
51	Saint Lucia	61.76
51	Tonga	61.76
54	Cayman Islands	61.27
54	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	61.27
56	Mauritius	60.78
56	Trinidad and Tobago	60.78
58	Croatia	60.29
58	Dominica	60.29
58	Israel	60.29
58	Namibia	60.29
62	Grenada	59.31
62	Saint Kitts and Nevis	59.31
64	Jamaica	58.82
65	Antigua and Barbuda	58.33
66	Panama	57.84
67	Argentina	57.35
67	Romania	57.35
67	Seychelles	57.35
70	Belize	56.86
70	Botswana	56.86
70	Vanuatu	56.86
73	Guam	55.56
74	Bulgaria	55.39
74	Ghana	55.39
74	Timor-Leste	55.39
77	Hungary	54.41
78	Brazil	53.92
78	Monaco	53.92
80	Nauru	53.43
81	Dominican Republic	51.47
81	Montenegro	51.47
81	Puerto Rico	51.47
81	Suriname	51.47
85	American Samoa	50.72
86	Mongolia	48.53
87	Moldova	47.55
88	Sao Tome and Principe	47.06
89	Colombia	46.57
90	Albania	45.59
90	Bhutan	45.59
90	Solomon Islands	45.59
93	North Macedonia	45.10
94	Senegal	44.12
95	Guyana	43.14
95	Indonesia	43.14
97	India	42.16
97	Malaysia	42.16
99	Malawi	41.67
100	Armenia	41.18
100	Liberia	41.18
102	Fiji	40.69
102	Georgia	40.69
102	Lesotho	40.69
102	Papua New Guinea	40.69
102	Paraguay	40.69
102	Peru	40.69
108	Philippines	39.71
109	Gambia	39.22
109	Nepal	39.22
109	Serbia	39.22
109	Zambia	39.22
113	Ecuador	38.73
113	Singapore	38.73
115	Kenya	38.24
115	Kosovo	38.24
115	Mexico	38.24
115	Ukraine	38.24
119	Benin	36.27
119	Sri Lanka	36.27
119	Tunisia	36.27
122	Bolivia	34.80
122	Maldives	34.80
124	Sierra Leone	33.82
125	Bosnia and Herzegovina	33.33
125	Madagascar	33.33
127	Hong Kong	32.35
128	Côte d'Ivoire	31.86
129	Thailand	30.88
130	El Salvador	29.90
130	Guinea-Bissau	29.90
130	Honduras	29.90
130	Morocco	29.90
134	Tanzania	27.94
135	Guatemala	27.45
135	Nigeria	27.45
137	Kuwait	25.98
137	Mozambique	25.98
139	Lebanon	25.00
139	Macao	25.00
139	Mauritania	25.00
142	Niger	24.51
142	Uganda	24.51
144	Angola	23.53
144	Bangladesh	23.53
144	Kyrgyzstan	23.53
147	Brunei	22.55
148	Jordan	22.06
148	Togo	22.06
150	Burkina Faso	21.57
151	Türkiye	19.12
152	Comoros	18.14
152	Gabon	18.14
152	Rwanda	18.14
155	Pakistan	16.67
156	Algeria	16.18
156	Iraq	16.18
158	Kazakhstan	15.69
158	Mali	15.69
158	Qatar	15.69
161	Oman	15.20
162	Cameroon	14.22
162	Ethiopia	14.22
164	Zimbabwe	12.75
165	United Arab Emirates	12.25
166	Republic of Congo	11.76
166	Guinea	11.76
166	Palestine	11.76
169	Eswatini	11.27
170	Haiti	10.29
171	DR Congo	9.31
172	Vietnam	7.84
173	Central African Republic	7.35
173	Cuba	7.35
173	Djibouti	7.35
173	Russia	7.35
177	Cambodia	6.86
177	Uzbekistan	6.86
179	Bahrain	5.88
179	Burundi	5.88
179	Egypt	5.88
179	Libya	5.88
179	Nicaragua	5.88
184	Azerbaijan	5.39
184	Saudi Arabia	5.39
186	Chad	4.41
186	Iran	4.41
188	China	2.45
188	Sudan	2.45
188	Venezuela	2.45
188	Yemen	2.45
192	Tajikistan	1.47
193	Laos	0.98
194	Belarus	0.49
194	Somalia	0.49
196	Afghanistan	0.00
196	Equatorial Guinea	0.00
196	Eritrea	0.00
196	North Korea	0.00
196	Myanmar	0.00
196	South Sudan	0.00
196	Syria	0.00
196	Turkmenistan	0.00

Analysis

This metric reports the lower bound of the 90% confidence interval for the Voice and Accountability percentile rank, as derived from the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators (indicator code: VA.PER.RNK.LOWER). The source note defines governance as 'the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised,' including 'the process by which governments are selected, mo[nitored, and replaced].' The percentile rank places each country relative to all others, and the lower-bound figure represents the conservative end of the confidence interval rather than the central estimate, meaning scores here are systematically lower than the headline percentile rank. The unit is percentage (%), and higher values are better. The dataset covers 203 countries for the 2023 data year, with 100% of observations rated as official quality, 99% consistency in the latest year, and zero extreme outliers identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by Northern and Western European countries. Norway leads at 96.08% (rank 1), followed by Denmark at 95.10% (rank 2), New Zealand at 94.61% (rank 3), and Finland and Luxembourg tied at 94.12% (rank 4). Switzerland (93.63%, rank 6), the Netherlands and Sweden (both 92.65%, rank 7), Australia and Ireland (both 92.16%, rank 9), and Germany (91.67%, rank 11) round out the top tier. Outside Europe, Uruguay (82.35%, rank 17) stands as the highest-ranked country in Latin America, while South Africa (64.22%, rank 50) leads sub-Saharan Africa.

The middle of the ranking shows notable variation. The United States ranks 37th at 69.61%, placing it alongside Korea (69.61%), Malta (69.61%), and the Slovak Republic (69.61%). Singapore ranks 113th at 38.73%, considerably lower than many smaller Pacific island states such as Kiribati (69.12%, rank 43) and Marshall Islands (69.12%, rank 43). Hong Kong SAR, China scores 32.35% at rank 127. The bottom of the ranking includes countries under authoritarian governance or active conflict: Belarus scores 0.49% (rank 194), Somalia scores 0.49% (rank 194), and Tajikistan 1.47% (rank 192). Eight countries score exactly 0.00% (ranks 196-203): Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, North Korea, Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria, and Turkmenistan.

A key limitation of this metric is that it reports the lower bound of a confidence interval rather than a point estimate, which means it structurally understates each country's central governance score. Confidence intervals reflect uncertainty in the underlying survey and expert data aggregation, and countries with fewer data sources will tend to have wider intervals and lower lower-bounds. The metric aggregates views from enterprise, citizen, and expert surveys, which may not be uniformly available or comparably sampled across all 203 countries. Territories and non-sovereign entities such as Greenland (rank 23, 76.96%), Guam (rank 73, 55.56%), Puerto Rico (rank 81, 51.47%), and Macao SAR, China (rank 139, 25.00%) are included alongside fully sovereign states, which complicates direct comparisons. Rankings can also be influenced by changes in the composition or methodology of underlying surveys rather than actual changes in governance conditions.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code VA.PER.RNK.LOWER, for the reference year 2023. The metric reports the lower bound of the 90% confidence interval for each country's Voice and Accountability percentile rank. As defined in the source note, the Worldwide Governance Indicators 'are a research dataset summarizing the views on the quality of governance provided by a large number of enterprise, citizen and expert survey respondents in industrial and developing countries. Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected, mo[nitored, and replaced].' The dataset covers 203 countries, all with data from the last 7 years (100% recency). Data quality is 100% official. The latest year (2023) has 99% consistency across observations. No extreme outliers were detected at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change is 9.0%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. Scores range from 0.00% to 96.08%, a spread of 96 percentage points. The lower-bound methodology means scores are conservative by design and should not be interpreted as central estimates of Voice and Accountability performance.

Sources

World Bank