Denmark, the Country with the Highest Liberal Democracy Index in the World in 2022

The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute, in its *Democracy Report 2023*, shows that Denmark had the highest Liberal Democracy Index (LDI) score in 2022, reaching 0.89 points.

The index score ranges from 0 to 1. A higher score indicates a stronger liberal democracy, while a lower score indicates an autocracy.

Following Denmark, Sweden had an LDI score of 0.87 points, followed by Norway with 0.86 points.

The top 10 countries with the highest Liberal Democracy Index scores in 2022 are:

1. Denmark: 0.89 points
2. Sweden: 0.87 points
3. Norway: 0.86 points
4. Switzerland: 0.85 points
5. Estonia: 0.85 points
6. New Zealand: 0.83 points
7. Belgium: 0.83 points
8. Ireland: 0.82 points
9. Costa Rica: 0.82 points
10. Finland: 0.82 points

Conversely, North Korea had the lowest LDI score in 2022, at 0.01 points, tied with Eritrea.

The bottom 10 countries with the lowest Liberal Democracy Index scores in 2022 are:

1. North Korea: 0.01 points
2. Eritrea: 0.01 points
3. Afghanistan: 0.03 points
4. Chad: 0.03 points
5. Syria: 0.03 points
6. Nicaragua: 0.03 points
7. Turkmenistan: 0.04 points
8. China: 0.04 points
9. Belarus: 0.04 points
10. Saudi Arabia: 0.04 points
11. Yemen: 0.04 points

Indonesia had an LDI score of 0.43 points, ranking 79th globally.

The V-Dem report's LDI uses 71 indicators across aspects of liberal (civil and political freedoms) and electoral democracy (free and fair elections) to assess 179 countries.

The report also indicates that global democracy quality has declined to 1986 levels. "72% of the world's population, or 5.7 billion people, lived under autocracy in 2022," according to the report.

Furthermore, the V-Dem report shows that freedom of expression worsened in 35 countries in 2022, a drastic increase compared to a decade ago when only 7 countries experienced such deterioration.