Belgium vs France: Democracy
Belgium
7
in 2025
France
7
in 2025
Belgium rank
1st
France rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Belgium
- France
How they compare
Belgium currently reports 7 against 7 in France, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 6 times across 203 shared years of data; in 1789 it was France ahead.
Belgium ranks 1st and France ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Across the 22 decades both report, Belgium averaged higher in 4 and France in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Belgium | France | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1790s | 0 | 2.17 | 2.17 | France |
| 1830s | 4 | 2 | 2 | Belgium |
| 1840s | 4 | 2.6 | 1.4 | Belgium |
| 1850s | 4 | 2.5 | 1.5 | Belgium |
| 1860s | 4 | 2 | 2 | Belgium |
| 1870s | 4 | 5 | 1 | France |
| 1880s | 4 | 5 | 1 | France |
| 1890s | 4.6 | 5 | 0.4 | France |
| 1900s | 5 | 5 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 3.5 | 5 | 1.5 | France |
| 1920s | 5 | 5 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 5 | 5 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 2.7 | 2.8 | 0.1 | France |
| 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, Belgium or France?
- Belgium, at 7 against 7 in France as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Belgium and France?
- 0, with Belgium ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Belgium and France?
- 203 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do Belgium and France rank globally for democracy?
- Belgium ranks 1st and France 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).