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

Eight countries, including Denmark, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Switzerland, share the top score of 100% on the upper bound of the 90% confidence interval for Voice and Accountability percentile rank in 2023. At the other end, Korea, Dem. People's Rep. ranks 203rd with a score of just 2.45%. The nearly 98-percentage-point gap between top and bottom reflects the extreme variation in governance conditions captured across 203 countries.

Governance category

Ranking 2023

Values shown in %.

Countries by Voice and Accountability: Percentile Rank, Upper Bound of 90% Confidence Interval
Rank	Country	%
1	American Samoa	100.00
1	Denmark	100.00
1	Finland	100.00
1	Guam	100.00
1	Luxembourg	100.00
1	New Zealand	100.00
1	Norway	100.00
1	Switzerland	100.00
9	Australia	99.51
9	Canada	99.51
9	Netherlands	99.51
9	San Marino	99.51
9	Sweden	99.51
14	Iceland	99.02
14	Ireland	99.02
14	Liechtenstein	99.02
17	Germany	98.04
17	Tuvalu	98.04
19	Austria	97.06
19	Greenland	97.06
19	Marshall Islands	97.06
22	Micronesia	96.57
22	Palau	96.57
24	Belgium	96.08
24	Kiribati	96.08
26	Uruguay	95.59
27	United Kingdom	95.10
28	Andorra	93.63
28	Samoa	93.63
30	Aruba	92.65
30	Barbados	92.65
30	Estonia	92.65
30	France	92.65
30	Japan	92.65
30	Portugal	92.65
30	Spain	92.65
37	Italy	92.16
38	Costa Rica	91.67
38	Tonga	91.67
40	Czechia	89.71
40	Slovenia	89.71
40	Saint Lucia	89.71
43	Lithuania	89.22
43	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	89.22
45	Chile	88.73
46	Cabo Verde	87.25
46	Dominica	87.25
46	Greece	87.25
46	Latvia	87.25
46	Saint Kitts and Nevis	87.25
51	Cyprus	86.76
52	Antigua and Barbuda	86.27
52	Grenada	86.27
52	Monaco	86.27
55	Nauru	85.78
56	Bahamas	84.80
57	Cayman Islands	84.31
57	Malta	84.31
57	United States	84.31
60	Slovakia	82.84
61	South Korea	80.88
62	Vanuatu	78.92
63	South Africa	76.96
64	Israel	75.98
65	Belize	72.55
65	Mauritius	72.55
65	Poland	72.55
65	Seychelles	72.55
65	Trinidad and Tobago	72.55
70	Namibia	72.06
70	Puerto Rico	72.06
72	Jamaica	71.57
73	Panama	71.08
74	Argentina	69.61
74	Botswana	69.61
74	Croatia	69.61
74	Romania	69.61
74	Solomon Islands	69.61
74	Timor-Leste	69.61
80	Brazil	66.18
80	Ghana	66.18
82	Suriname	65.69
83	Bulgaria	64.71
84	Montenegro	64.22
85	Dominican Republic	62.75
85	Fiji	62.75
85	Hungary	62.75
88	Mongolia	61.76
88	Sao Tome and Principe	61.76
90	Moldova	61.27
91	Bhutan	60.78
91	Colombia	60.78
93	Albania	59.31
93	Guyana	59.31
93	North Macedonia	59.31
96	Indonesia	58.33
97	Senegal	57.35
98	Armenia	56.86
98	India	56.86
98	Malawi	56.86
98	Malaysia	56.86
98	Peru	56.86
103	Georgia	55.88
103	Lesotho	55.88
103	Liberia	55.88
103	Paraguay	55.88
107	Papua New Guinea	55.39
108	Maldives	54.41
108	Philippines	54.41
110	Nepal	53.92
111	Gambia	52.94
112	Ecuador	52.45
112	Serbia	52.45
112	Zambia	52.45
115	Singapore	51.96
116	Kosovo	51.47
116	Ukraine	51.47
118	Mexico	50.49
119	Kenya	49.51
120	Benin	46.08
120	Tunisia	46.08
122	Sri Lanka	45.59
123	Bolivia	44.12
124	Hong Kong	42.65
125	Bosnia and Herzegovina	42.16
125	Sierra Leone	42.16
127	Madagascar	41.18
128	Côte d'Ivoire	40.69
128	Guinea-Bissau	40.69
128	Macao	40.69
131	Honduras	39.22
131	Thailand	39.22
133	El Salvador	38.73
133	Morocco	38.73
135	Guatemala	36.76
135	Nigeria	36.76
135	Tanzania	36.76
138	Kuwait	36.27
138	Mozambique	36.27
140	Lebanon	35.78
141	Brunei	34.80
141	Mauritania	34.80
143	Comoros	33.82
143	Niger	33.82
143	Uganda	33.82
146	Kyrgyzstan	33.33
147	Angola	32.35
148	Bangladesh	31.86
148	Jordan	31.86
148	Togo	31.86
151	Burkina Faso	30.88
152	Türkiye	30.39
153	Rwanda	28.92
154	Gabon	27.94
155	Iraq	27.45
155	Pakistan	27.45
157	Qatar	26.96
158	Algeria	25.98
158	Kazakhstan	25.98
158	Oman	25.98
161	Mali	25.00
162	Cameroon	24.51
162	Ethiopia	24.51
162	United Arab Emirates	24.51
162	Palestine	24.51
162	Zimbabwe	24.51
167	Republic of Congo	23.53
167	Eswatini	23.53
167	Guinea	23.53
170	Haiti	22.06
171	Central African Republic	20.10
171	DR Congo	20.10
171	Cuba	20.10
171	Vietnam	20.10
175	Djibouti	19.61
176	Cambodia	19.12
176	Russia	19.12
178	Uzbekistan	18.14
179	Bahrain	16.67
179	Burundi	16.67
181	Azerbaijan	15.69
181	Egypt	15.69
181	Libya	15.69
181	Nicaragua	15.69
181	Saudi Arabia	15.69
186	Chad	15.20
187	Iran	14.71
188	China	12.25
189	Venezuela	11.76
189	Yemen	11.76
191	Laos	9.31
191	Sudan	9.31
193	South Sudan	8.82
193	Tajikistan	8.82
195	Belarus	7.35
195	Equatorial Guinea	7.35
195	Somalia	7.35
198	Afghanistan	4.41
198	Eritrea	4.41
198	Myanmar	4.41
198	Syria	4.41
198	Turkmenistan	4.41
203	North Korea	2.45

Analysis

This metric reports the upper bound of the 90% confidence interval around a country's Voice and Accountability percentile rank, as measured by the World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators (indicator code: VA.PER.RNK.UPPER, data year 2023). The unit is a percentile rank expressed as a percentage, where higher values are better. According to the source definition, 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, and governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised, including the process by which governments are selected. Because this is the upper confidence bound rather than the point estimate, it represents the high end of the plausible range for each country's true rank. The dataset covers 203 countries, with 100% of data points from the 2023 reference year classified as official-quality data and zero extreme outliers identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold.

At the top of the ranking, eight countries tie at 100%: American Samoa, Denmark, Finland, Guam, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland (all rank 1). They are closely followed by Australia, Canada, Netherlands, San Marino, and Sweden at 99.51% (rank 9), and Iceland, Ireland, and Liechtenstein at 99.02% (rank 14). Germany and Tuvalu both score 98.04% (rank 17). The upper tier is dominated by Western European and Anglophone nations, alongside several small Pacific island states. Uruguay, at 95.59% (rank 26), is the highest-ranked Latin American country. These positions reflect consistently high upper-bound estimates, meaning the data suggests strong confidence that these countries belong near the top of the global distribution.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable diversity. South Africa ranks 63rd at 76.96%, while Poland ranks 65th at 72.55% alongside Belize, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Trinidad and Tobago. Indonesia sits at rank 96 with 58.33%, and Mexico ranks 118th at 50.49%. Further down, Morocco ranks 133rd at 38.73%, Nigeria 135th at 36.76%, and Kuwait 138th at 36.27%. At the lower end, Russia ranks 176th at 19.12%, China ranks 188th at 12.25%, and Venezuela ranks 189th at 11.76%. The bottom five positions include Belarus (rank 195, 7.35%), Afghanistan, Eritrea, Myanmar, Syrian Arab Republic, and Turkmenistan (all rank 198, 4.41%), with Korea, Dem. People's Rep. last at 2.45%.

Because this metric represents the upper bound of a confidence interval rather than a central estimate, it systematically overstates each country's likely true percentile rank to some degree. Countries with less underlying survey data may have wider confidence intervals, which can artificially inflate their upper bound relative to better-measured countries. Composite governance indicators like these aggregate heterogeneous sources, and the scores reflect perceptions rather than direct institutional measurement. Tied ranks are common due to rounding and the structure of the underlying percentile scale. Rankings can also be influenced by changes in the composition of source surveys over time rather than genuine shifts in governance conditions.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code VA.PER.RNK.UPPER, for the reference year 2023. The metric reports the upper bound of the 90% confidence interval around each country's Voice and Accountability percentile rank, expressed as a percentage where higher values indicate better governance perceptions. Per the source definition, 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, and governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised, including the process by which governments are selected. The dataset covers 203 countries. Coverage viability checks confirm 100% of data points are from within the last 7 years, 100% are classified as official-quality (above the 70% threshold), and 99% of countries (201 of 203) have data from the latest reference year. No extreme outliers were identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change is 5.4%, well below the 50% volatility threshold. The score range spans 2.45% to 100.00%, a spread of approximately 3,980%. As an upper confidence bound, this metric should not be interpreted as a point estimate of governance quality.

Sources

World Bank