Countries by Voice and Accountability: Percentile Rank

Norway leads all 203 countries with a voice and accountability percentile rank of 100% in 2023, while North Korea sits at the opposite extreme with a score of exactly 0%. The 100-percentage-point gap between the top and bottom of the ranking illustrates the full breadth of variation in how freely populations can participate in selecting their governments and express political views. This dataset captures that variation across virtually every country in the world.

Governance category

Ranking 2023

Values shown in %.

Countries by Voice and Accountability: Percentile Rank
Rank	Country	%
1	Norway	100.00
2	New Zealand	99.51
3	Switzerland	99.02
4	Denmark	98.53
5	Luxembourg	98.04
6	Finland	97.55
7	Sweden	97.06
8	Netherlands	96.57
9	Australia	96.08
10	Ireland	95.59
11	Canada	95.10
12	Germany	94.61
13	Iceland	94.12
14	Austria	93.63
15	Liechtenstein	93.14
16	Belgium	92.65
17	Uruguay	92.16
18	Greenland	91.67
19	United Kingdom	90.20
20	San Marino	89.71
21	Tuvalu	89.22
22	Estonia	88.73
23	Portugal	88.24
24	Spain	87.75
25	Barbados	87.25
26	France	86.76
27	Marshall Islands	86.27
28	Italy	85.78
29	Japan	85.29
30	Guam	85.02
31	Kiribati	84.31
32	Micronesia	83.82
32	Palau	83.82
34	Slovenia	82.84
35	Czechia	82.35
36	Lithuania	81.86
37	Costa Rica	81.37
38	Samoa	80.88
39	Aruba	80.39
40	Chile	79.90
41	Greece	79.41
42	Andorra	78.92
43	Latvia	78.43
44	Cyprus	77.94
45	Cabo Verde	77.45
46	American Samoa	77.29
47	Malta	76.96
48	Slovakia	76.47
49	United States	75.49
50	Tonga	75.00
51	Saint Lucia	74.51
52	Bahamas	74.02
53	South Korea	73.53
54	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	73.04
55	Dominica	72.55
56	Saint Kitts and Nevis	72.06
57	Cayman Islands	71.57
58	Grenada	71.08
59	South Africa	70.59
60	Antigua and Barbuda	70.10
61	Monaco	69.61
62	Israel	69.12
63	Nauru	68.63
64	Vanuatu	68.14
65	Poland	67.65
66	Trinidad and Tobago	67.16
67	Mauritius	66.67
68	Namibia	66.18
69	Croatia	65.69
70	Jamaica	65.20
71	Seychelles	64.71
72	Panama	64.22
73	Belize	63.73
74	Argentina	63.24
75	Botswana	62.75
76	Romania	62.25
77	Puerto Rico	61.76
78	Timor-Leste	61.27
79	Ghana	60.78
80	Bulgaria	60.29
81	Brazil	59.80
82	Hungary	59.31
83	Suriname	58.82
84	Montenegro	58.33
85	Solomon Islands	57.84
86	Dominican Republic	57.35
87	Sao Tome and Principe	56.86
88	Mongolia	56.37
89	Moldova	55.88
90	Colombia	55.39
91	Bhutan	54.90
92	Fiji	54.41
93	Albania	53.92
94	North Macedonia	53.43
95	Guyana	52.94
96	Indonesia	52.45
97	Senegal	51.96
98	India	51.47
99	Malaysia	50.98
100	Armenia	50.49
101	Malawi	50.00
102	Peru	49.51
103	Liberia	49.02
104	Paraguay	48.53
105	Georgia	48.04
106	Lesotho	47.55
107	Papua New Guinea	47.06
108	Philippines	46.57
109	Nepal	46.08
110	Gambia	45.59
111	Zambia	45.10
112	Serbia	44.61
113	Ecuador	44.12
114	Singapore	43.63
115	Kosovo	43.14
116	Ukraine	42.65
117	Mexico	42.16
118	Kenya	41.67
119	Maldives	41.18
120	Tunisia	40.69
121	Benin	40.20
122	Sri Lanka	39.71
123	Bolivia	39.22
124	Sierra Leone	38.73
125	Bosnia and Herzegovina	38.24
126	Madagascar	37.75
127	Hong Kong	37.25
128	Côte d'Ivoire	36.76
129	Guinea-Bissau	36.27
130	Thailand	35.78
131	Honduras	35.29
132	El Salvador	34.80
133	Morocco	34.31
134	Macao	33.82
135	Guatemala	33.33
136	Tanzania	32.84
137	Nigeria	32.35
138	Mozambique	31.86
139	Kuwait	31.37
140	Lebanon	30.88
141	Mauritania	30.39
142	Niger	29.90
143	Uganda	29.41
144	Brunei	28.92
145	Kyrgyzstan	28.43
146	Angola	27.94
147	Bangladesh	27.45
148	Jordan	26.96
149	Togo	26.47
150	Comoros	25.98
151	Burkina Faso	25.49
152	Türkiye	25.00
153	Rwanda	24.51
154	Gabon	24.02
155	Iraq	23.53
156	Pakistan	23.04
157	Qatar	22.55
158	Algeria	22.06
159	Kazakhstan	21.57
160	Oman	21.08
161	Mali	20.59
162	Ethiopia	20.10
163	Cameroon	19.61
164	Zimbabwe	19.12
165	United Arab Emirates	18.63
166	Palestine	18.14
167	Guinea	17.65
168	Republic of Congo	17.16
169	Eswatini	16.67
170	Haiti	16.18
171	DR Congo	15.69
172	Vietnam	15.20
173	Cuba	14.71
174	Central African Republic	14.22
175	Djibouti	13.73
176	Russia	13.24
177	Cambodia	12.75
178	Uzbekistan	12.25
179	Burundi	11.76
180	Bahrain	11.27
181	Egypt	10.78
182	Nicaragua	10.29
183	Libya	9.80
184	Azerbaijan	9.31
185	Saudi Arabia	8.82
186	Chad	8.33
187	Iran	7.84
188	China	7.35
189	Venezuela	6.86
190	Yemen	6.37
191	Sudan	5.88
192	Laos	5.39
193	Tajikistan	4.90
194	Somalia	4.41
195	Belarus	3.92
196	Equatorial Guinea	3.43
197	South Sudan	2.94
198	Myanmar	2.45
199	Afghanistan	1.96
200	Syria	1.47
201	Eritrea	0.98
202	Turkmenistan	0.49
203	North Korea	0.00

Analysis

Voice and accountability percentile rank measures where a country stands relative to all others on a composite governance dimension. The indicator code is VA.PER.RNK, sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators for data year 2023. The unit is a percentile expressed as a percentage, where higher values indicate better performance. According to the source definition, the Worldwide Governance Indicators summarize '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 within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. No extreme statistical outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold, and the average year-over-year change of 6.5% indicates moderate stability. The full range runs from 0.00% to 100.00%.

The top of the ranking is dominated by Northern and Western European democracies. Norway ranks 1st at 100%, followed by New Zealand (2nd, 99.51%), Switzerland (3rd, 99.02%), Denmark (4th, 98.53%), and Luxembourg (5th, 98.04%). Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland round out the top ten, all scoring above 95%. The first non-European or non-Anglosphere country to appear is Uruguay, which ranks 17th at 92.16%, notably ahead of the United Kingdom at 19th (90.20%) and France at 26th (86.76%). Within this tier, scores decline gradually and consistently with no abrupt breaks.

The middle of the ranking reveals several notable placements. South Africa ranks 59th at 70.59%, making it the highest-ranked sub-Saharan African country. Singapore ranks 114th at 43.63%, placing it in the lower half despite its high scores on other governance metrics. Hungary ranks 82nd at 59.31%, below regional peers such as Czechia (35th, 82.35%) and Poland (65th, 67.65%). Hong Kong SAR, China ranks 127th at 37.25%, one rank below Madagascar (126th, 37.75%). At the lower end, Russia ranks 176th at 13.24%, China ranks 188th at 7.35%, and Belarus ranks 195th at 3.92%. The five lowest-ranked countries are Afghanistan (199th, 1.96%), Syria (200th, 1.47%), Eritrea (201st, 0.98%), Turkmenistan (202nd, 0.49%), and North Korea (203rd, 0.00%).

Several limitations apply to this metric. Because it is a percentile rank rather than an absolute score, a country's rank can shift even if its underlying governance score is unchanged, simply because other countries change. The composite is built from surveys of enterprises, citizens, and experts, which introduces variability based on respondent composition and survey methodology across countries. Perceptions-based data may lag actual changes in governance conditions. Countries with very small populations or limited survey coverage may have less reliable underlying scores. The source note definition is truncated in this dataset, and the full set of sub-indicators aggregated into the composite is not disclosed here. Comparing ranks across years should account for the fact that the percentile frame is recalculated each period.

Methodology

This ranking uses indicator VA.PER.RNK from the World Bank World Development Indicators, reflecting data year 2023. The metric is the percentile rank on the Voice and Accountability dimension of the Worldwide Governance Indicators. Per the source definition, the WGI 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 unit is percent, where higher is better. Coverage spans 203 countries, all meeting the recency threshold with data from the last seven years. All 203 datapoints are classified as official quality (100%), exceeding the 70% threshold. No extreme outliers were found at the 3-sigma level. The average year-over-year change is 6.5%, well below the 50% volatility threshold, indicating reasonable stability. The data range is 0.00% to 100.00%, a spread of 100 percentage points. Consistency in the latest year (2023) is 99.0%, with 201 of 203 countries reporting. Because the metric is a percentile rank, absolute governance score changes do not always translate to rank changes, and cross-year comparisons should be made with care.

Sources

World Bank