V-Dem Institute

21/08/2026

The Portuguese version of the V-Dem Institute Demoracy Report is out!

Relatório da Democracia 2026: Portugal entra na lista de risco de autocratização

26/03/2026

What is a V-Dem Country Coding Unit and how are they determined? Find out in this fifth V-Dem Methodology reel.

24/03/2026

When a country starts to democratize, what aspects of democracy improve? And conversely, when a country becomes less democratic, which aspects decline?

In 2025, 62 countries are in episodes of regime transformation – autocratizing (becoming less democratic) or democratizing (becoming more democratic), according to the Episodes of Regime Transformation (ERT) methodology.

The first graph shows the 20 indicators that decline in the largest number of the 44 autocratizing countries, and the second graph shows the 20 indicators that improve in the largest number of the 18 democratizing countries.

For more information about the indicators and in which countries they are improving or declining, see the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026 - "Unraveling The Democratic Era?": https://v-dem.net/publications/democracy-reports/

You can also explore the data with the graphing tools on the V-Dem website: https://v-dem.net/graphing/graphing-tools/

Download the V-Dem dataset v16: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

23/03/2026

💡 What does V-Dem Data not cover? People have different conceptions of democracy. Indeed, this idea is fundamental to the V-Dem Project – we provide indicators and indices that allow anyone to measure different definitions of democracy, depending on their understanding or conceptualization. However, the diversity of conceptualizations means that the V-Dem dataset cannot capture all aspects that different people consider relevant for a democracy.
Watch part 4 in the 2026 V-Dem Methodology series to find out more!

20/03/2026

What were the aspects of Democracy that declined in the most countries over the last decade?

The figure displays the top 20 indicators that register decline in the largest number of countries between 2015 and 2025.

Indicators related to Freedom of expression (dark blue) are the most affected, with Government efforts at censoring the media at the top of the list, deteriorating substantially in 44 countries. Freedom of academic and cultural expression is second on the list, with deteriorations in 41 countries.

Other examples of deteriorating indicators: Repression of civil society organizations (CSOs) is deteriorating in 39 countries, and the extent to which society is engaged in policy debates (engaged society) is declining in 34 countries.

Governments in 33 countries are increasingly resorting to political torture to suppress political opposition (freedom from torture), 31 countries are declining on the free and fair election-indicator, and in 28 countries, members of the executive are increasingly not respecting the constitution (executive respects constitution).

Read more about declining indicators in the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026: https://v-dem.net/publications/democracy-reports/ and explore the data with the V-Dem graphing tools: https://v-dem.net/graphing/graphing-tools/

For more information on the indicators in the figure and the indices they are part of, see the V-Dem Codebookhttps://v-dem.net/documents/70/codebook_v16.pdf or the V-Dem graphing tools (link above).

19/03/2026

The U.S. democracy is currently in a much faster deterioration process than any other democracy in modern times.

Within only one year, the USA’s score on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy index (LDI) has declined by 24 percent, from 0.75 in 2024 to 0.57 in 2025.

The graph shows how fast democracy has declined in the USA compared to five prominent cases of autocratization in the last 25 years. It measures the total drop in the LDI from the moment autocratization began in each country.

The dramatic decline in the U.S. took Hungary over four years, Serbia eight years, and both India and Türkiye about a decade.

Read more about which aspects of the U.S. democracy are declining the most and why the U.S. is not falling even further on the Liberal Democracy index in the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026: https://v-dem.net/publications/democracy-reports/

Explore the U.S. data with the V-Dem graphing tools: https://v-dem.net/graphing/graphing-tools/
Download the V-Dem Dataset: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

18/03/2026

In 2025, a total of 62 countries are in episodes of regime transformation – autocratizing (becoming less democratic, in red) or democratizing (becoming more democratic, in blue), according to the Episodes of Regime Transformation (ERT) methodology.

The color intensity shows the magnitude of the change. Countries in gray are not in anepisode of regime transformation in 2025 according to ERT.

Most countries have stable levels of democracy, be they low or high. The 44 countries autocratizing are home to 3.4 billion people, or 41% of the world population. Only 18 countries are democratizing.

This graph shows change over time. It does not say anything about the level of democracy of each country, it shows the direction the countries have been heading and the magnitude of the change since the start of the transformation.

Read the Democracy Report: https://v-dem.net/publications/democracy-reports/
Download the V-Dem Dataset: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/
Explore the data with the V-Dem graphing tools: https://v-dem.net/graphing/graphing-tools/
The ERT dataset: https://v-dem.net/data/ert-dataset/

17/03/2026

📢 V-Dem Dataset v16 is out!
Version 16 of the V-Dem dataset is now released. The dataset includes several hundred indicators along with five indices that measure a country’s overall degree of democracy, according to different definitions of democracy.

Read the V-Dem Steering Committee’s comments on the new data, the development of key indices over the last decade, and the ratings for the U.S.: https://v-dem.net/release-statement-for-v16-of-the-v-dem-dataset/

Download the V-Dem Dataset (v16): https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/
Explore the new data with the V-Dem Graphing tools: https://v-dem.net/graphing/graphing-tools/

PS: Unsure which version of the dataset to use?
Check the FAQ “Why does the V-Dem dataset come in different versions?” for an overview of the different units of analysis to find out which fits your purpose the best: https://v-dem.net/about/faq/

17/03/2026

📢 Out Now! V-Dem Dataset v16 and the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026

Explore the new data with the V-Dem Graphing tools: https://v-dem.net/graphing/graphing-tools/
Download the Dataset: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

Read the Report "Unraveling The Democratic Era?”: https://v-dem.net/publications/democracy-reports/

The new V-Dem dataset covers 202 countries and territories from 1789 – 2025.

The image shows the state of liberal democracy according to the V-Dem Liberal Democracy index for 2025 and 2024. The higher the score (or darker blue), the more democratic the country. Lower scores (or dark red) mean less democratic.



Please note: The V-Dem dataset v16 contains data for up to and including 2025. Events in 2026 do not affect the data in the v16 dataset or ratings on the V-Dem Democracy Indices.

13/03/2026

💡When does a Country decline on the V-Dem Indices? Watch this reel on V-Dem methodology to find out!