Iceland vs United States: Democracy
Iceland
7
in 2025
United States
7
in 2025
Iceland rank
1st
United States rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Iceland
- United States
How they compare
Iceland currently reports 7 against 7 in United States, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 182 shared years of data; in 1844 it was United States ahead.
Iceland ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Across the 19 decades both report, Iceland averaged higher in 5 and United States in 8.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1840s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1850s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1860s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1870s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1880s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1890s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1900s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1910s | 2.9 | 4 | 1.1 | United States |
| 1920s | 7 | 4 | 3 | Iceland |
| 1930s | 7 | 4 | 3 | Iceland |
| 1940s | 6.4 | 4 | 2.4 | Iceland |
| 1950s | 7 | 4 | 3 | Iceland |
| 1960s | 7 | 5.5 | 1.5 | Iceland |
| 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, Iceland or United States?
- Iceland, at 7 against 7 in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Iceland and United States?
- 0, with Iceland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and United States?
- 182 years are reported by both, from 1844 to 2025.
- How do Iceland and United States rank globally for democracy?
- Iceland ranks 1st and United States 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).