Global Outlook: Democracy Index 2022


In EIU’s latest global outlook video, global forecasting director, Agathe Demarais, and editor of the Democracy Index, Joan Hoey, discuss the results of EIU’s latest Democracy Index report.

The results from the Democracy Index 2022: the good, the bad and the ugly news.

The good news is that the global score improved for the first time in seven years. Chile, France and Spain were upgraded to ‘full democracies’ from ‘flawed democracies’ – mainly due to the lifting of pandemic related restrictions on individual rights and civil liberties. Other countries that saw big improvements in their scores included Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Angola and Niger. 

However, the bad news is the global score improved only marginally, from 5.28 in 2021 to 5.29 in 2022. The Democracy Index 2022 paints a global picture of stagnation t. Several countries had big regressions in their scores, such as Burkina Faso, Haiti, El Salvador, Mexico, Tunisia, Iraq and Jordan. 

As for the ugly, Russia gets this accolade, recording the biggest deterioration in score of any country in the world. Obvious reasons include its unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine and its harsh crackdown and state repression against dissent at home.

“Anybody who considers themselves a democrat should be supporting Ukraine’s fight to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. National sovereignty is the bedrock of democracy and without that, there’s no basis for freedom, democracy or real, meaningful citizenship.”

joan hoey, editor, democracy index, EIU

The analysis and forecasts featured in this piece can be found in EIU’s Country Analysis service. This integrated solution provides unmatched global insights covering the political and economic outlook for nearly 200 countries, enabling organisations to identify prospective opportunities and potential risks.