Canada vs South Africa: Democracy
Canada
7
in 2025
South Africa
7
in 2025
Canada rank
1st
South Africa rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Canada
- South Africa
How they compare
Canada currently reports 7 against 7 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was Canada ahead.
Canada ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Canada has averaged higher in every one of the 13 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 4 | 0 | 4 | Canada |
| 1910s | 4 | 4 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 6 | 4 | 2 | Canada |
| 1930s | 6 | 4 | 2 | Canada |
| 1940s | 6.4 | 4 | 2.4 | Canada |
| 1950s | 7 | 3 | 4 | Canada |
| 1960s | 7 | 3 | 4 | Canada |
| 1970s | 7 | 3 | 4 | Canada |
| 1980s | 7 | 3 | 4 | Canada |
| 1990s | 7 | 5.4 | 1.6 | Canada |
| 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, Canada or South Africa?
- Canada, at 7 against 7 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Canada and South Africa?
- 0, with Canada ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and South Africa?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Canada and South Africa rank globally for democracy?
- Canada ranks 1st and South Africa 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).