Evolution of the share of democracies and dictatorships in the world| ��ƽ��

Evolution of the distribution of democratic and authoritarian regimes in the world between 1800 and 2021

Characteristic	Democratic regimes	Authoritarian regimes
1800	4	96
1801	4	96
1802	4	96
1803	4	96
1804	4	96
1805	4	96
1806	3.85	96.15
1807	4	96
1808	4.17	95.83
1809	4.17	95.83
1810	4.17	95.83
1811	4	96
1812	4	96
1813	4	96
1814	3.85	96.15
1815	3.13	96.88
1816	3.03	96.97
1817	3.03	96.97
1818	2.94	97.06
1819	2.86	97.14
1820	2.7	97.3
1821	2.38	97.62
1822	2.33	97.67
1823	2.27	97.73
1824	1.96	98.04
1825	1.89	98.11
1826	1.89	98.11
1827	1.85	98.15
1828	1.85	98.15
1829	1.85	98.15
1830	1.79	98.21
1831	1.89	98.11
1832	1.85	98.15
1833	1.85	98.15
1834	1.85	98.15
1835	1.85	98.15
1836	1.85	98.15
1837	1.85	98.15
1838	1.85	98.15
1839	1.92	98.08
1840	1.92	98.08
1841	1.89	98.11
1842	1.89	98.11
1843	1.89	98.11
1844	1.85	98.15
1845	1.85	98.15
1846	1.85	98.15
1847	1.82	98.18
1848	5.45	94.55
1849	5.45	94.55
1850	5.36	94.64
1851	5.36	94.64
1852	3.57	96.43
1853	3.57	96.43
1854	5.26	94.74
1855	5.17	94.83
1856	5.17	94.83
1857	6.78	93.22
1858	6.9	93.1
1859	6.78	93.22
1860	6.9	93.1
1861	7.41	92.59
1862	7.41	92.59
1863	7.41	92.59
1864	9.09	90.91
1865	9.09	90.91
1866	9.09	90.91
1867	10.34	89.66
1868	10.17	89.83
1869	10.17	89.83
1870	10.17	89.83
1871	12.07	87.93
1872	12.96	87.04
1873	12.96	87.04
1874	12.96	87.04
1875	12.96	87.04
1876	12.96	87.04
1877	12.96	87.04
1878	12.73	87.27
1879	12.5	87.5
1880	12.5	87.5
1881	12.5	87.5
1882	12.5	87.5
1883	12.5	87.5
1884	12.5	87.5
1885	14.29	85.71
1886	14.29	85.71
1887	14.29	85.71
1888	14.29	85.71
1889	14.29	85.71
1890	16.07	83.93
1891	16.07	83.93
1892	16.07	83.93
1893	16.07	83.93
1894	17.86	82.14
1895	17.86	82.14
1896	17.86	82.14
1897	19.64	80.36
1898	19.64	80.36
1899	19.64	80.36
1900	21.05	78.95
1901	24.14	75.86
1902	23.73	76.27
1903	22.03	77.97
1904	22.03	77.97
1905	22.03	77.97
1906	22.41	77.59
1907	22.03	77.97
1908	22.03	77.97
1909	25.42	74.58
1910	25.42	74.58
1911	30.36	69.64
1912	32.14	67.86
1913	33.33	66.67
1914	32.14	67.86
1915	30.36	69.64
1916	29.09	70.91
1917	29.82	70.18
1918	36.67	63.33
1919	41.94	58.06
1920	44.62	55.38
1921	45.45	54.55
1922	44.78	55.22
1923	44.12	55.88
1924	43.48	56.52
1925	40.85	59.15
1926	37.5	62.5
1927	37.5	62.5
1928	37.5	62.5
1929	36.11	63.89
1930	36.62	63.38
1931	36.62	63.38
1932	37.5	62.5
1933	34.72	65.28
1934	30.56	69.44
1935	30.14	69.86
1936	28.77	71.23
1937	28.77	71.23
1938	29.17	70.83
1939	27.27	72.73
1940	21.31	78.69
1941	23.64	76.36
1942	23.21	76.79
1943	25	75
1944	27.27	72.73
1945	38.46	61.54
1946	43.48	56.52
1947	38.03	61.97
1948	37.5	62.5
1949	39.02	60.98
1950	40.48	59.52
1951	40	60
1952	41.18	58.82
1953	40	60
1954	39.08	60.92
1955	39.33	60.67
1956	40.22	59.78
1957	39.36	60.64
1958	40	60
1959	40	60
1960	38.05	61.95
1961	37.93	62.07
1962	34.96	65.04
1963	33.33	66.67
1964	32.54	67.46
1965	31.54	68.46
1966	31.85	68.15
1967	30.15	69.85
1968	29.29	70.71
1969	27.86	72.14
1970	28.37	71.63
1971	28.97	71.03
1972	28.77	71.23
1973	28.57	71.43
1974	29.73	70.27
1975	30.52	69.48
1976	29.68	70.32
1977	28.85	71.15
1978	30.19	69.81
1979	32.92	67.08
1980	32.72	67.28
1981	32.52	67.48
1982	33.54	66.46
1983	34.76	65.24
1984	36.97	63.03
1985	37.35	62.65
1986	39.16	60.84
1987	38.55	61.45
1988	40.36	59.64
1989	40.36	59.64
1990	43.11	56.89
1991	46.74	53.26
1992	50.54	49.46
1993	52.15	47.85
1994	54.26	45.74
1995	54.5	45.5
1996	54.21	45.79
1997	55.5	44.5
1998	54.97	45.03
1999	54.97	45.03
2000	56.02	43.98
2001	56.84	43.16
2002	58.12	41.88
2003	58.95	41.05
2004	59.16	40.84
2005	59.16	40.84
2006	60.42	39.58
2007	59.9	40.1
2008	61.46	38.54
2009	60.62	39.38
2010	60.62	39.38
2011	61.66	38.34
2012	60.51	39.49
2013	60.51	39.49
2014	60.31	39.69
2015	61.66	38.34
2016	61.14	38.86
2017	60.62	39.38
2018	60.62	39.38
2019	61.14	38.86
2020	61.14	38.86

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Release date

March 2022

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

1800-2021

Supplementary notes

* The classification between democracies and authoritarian regimes is based on the classification work of Boix. (2013).

Citation formats

The distribution of the world between authoritarian regimes and democratic regimes has changed significantly since the beginning of the 19th century. In 1800, only one country was designated as a democracy, the United States, which represented 4 percent of all governments recorded worldwide that year. There was a first wave of democratization of regimes starting in the 1850s, where the share of democracies increased from 5 percent to 45 percent after World War I. This was followed by a decline in democratic regimes until World War II. The emergence of totalitarian regimes in Europe caused the democratic momentum to fall worldwide. Following decolonization from the 1950s to the 1970s, many countries in Asia and Africa were able to access democracy. It was not until 1992 that, for the first time in history, there were more democratic regimes than authoritarian regimes. Since the 2000s, humanity seems to have reached a democratic plateau. The share of democracies has stagnated around 60 percent.