Just 8.4% of the world’s population live in a “full democracy” according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Democracy Index.
Global democracy continued its decline in 2020, according to the latest edition of the Democracy Index from our sister company, The Economist Intelligence Unit.
The annual survey, which rates the state of democracy across 167 countries based on five measures—electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties—finds that just 8.4% of the world’s population live in a full democracy while more than a third live under authoritarian rule.
The global score of 5.37 out of ten is the lowest recorded since the index began in 2006.