Australia vs New Zealand: Democracy
Australia
7
in 2025
New Zealand
7
in 2025
Australia rank
1st
New Zealand rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Australia
- New Zealand
How they compare
Australia currently reports 7 against 7 in New Zealand, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 185 shared years of data; in 1841 it was New Zealand ahead.
Australia ranks 1st and New Zealand ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Across the 19 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 2 and New Zealand in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | New Zealand | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1840s | 1.56 | 0 | 1.56 | Australia |
| 1850s | 2 | 1.4 | 0.6 | Australia |
| 1860s | 3 | 3 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 4 | 4.1 | 0.1 | New Zealand |
| 1880s | 4 | 5 | 1 | New Zealand |
| 1890s | 4.4 | 6.4 | 2 | New Zealand |
| 1900s | 6.8 | 7 | 0.2 | New Zealand |
| 1910s | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 6.9 | 7 | 0.1 | New Zealand |
| 1940s | 6.4 | 6.4 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1960s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, Australia or New Zealand?
- Australia, at 7 against 7 in New Zealand as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Australia and New Zealand?
- 0, with Australia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and New Zealand?
- 185 years are reported by both, from 1841 to 2025.
- How do Australia and New Zealand rank globally for democracy?
- Australia ranks 1st and New Zealand ranks 1st of 198 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies (score 0), one-party autocracies (score 1), multi-party autocracies without elected executive (score 2), multi-party autocracies (score 3), exclusive democracies (score 4), male democracies (score 5), electoral democracies (score 6), and full democracies (score 7).