V-Dem Institute: Many Countries Are Heading Towards Autocracy

Research by the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute reveals that a number of countries are moving towards autocracy—a state where a country deviates from democracy with absolute, unlimited, or authoritarian power.

About 45 countries were detected exhibiting elements of autocracy in 2024, a nearly fourfold increase from two decades ago when only 12 countries were identified.

Conversely, the number of countries moving towards democracy decreased to 19 in 2024, down from 26 in 2004.

"27 of the 45 autocratic countries were initially democracies. Of these, only 9 remained democracies in 2024. The mortality rate is 67%," the research team wrote, as quoted on Thursday (5/6/2025).

The research team also noted that there are fewer democracies globally, totaling 88 countries, while autocracies number 91. This stark disparity is unprecedented in over 20 years.

"Liberal democracy has become the rarest type of regime in the world, with a total of 29 countries in 2024," the research team stated.

V-Dem Institute also analyzed that almost 3 out of 4 people in the world, or 72%, now live in an autocracy. According to the research team, this is the highest figure since 1978.

"The favorite weapons of autocratization actors are media censorship, followed by the weakening of elections and civil society," the research team explained.

This research on the dichotomy of country types is included in the liberal democracy analysis presented in the Democracy Report 2025, 25 Years of Autocratization—Democracy Trumped?. At least 179 countries were involved in this research.

(Rad: Indonesia's Liberal Democracy Far Behind Timor-Leste in 2024)