South Korea vs United States: Democracy
South Korea
7
in 2025
United States
7
in 2025
South Korea rank
1st
United States rank
1st
Democracy over time
- South Korea
- United States
How they compare
South Korea currently reports 7 against 7 in United States, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 78 shared years of data; in 1948 it was United States ahead.
South Korea ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 198 countries.
United States has averaged higher in every one of the 9 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | South Korea | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 3 | 4 | 1 | United States |
| 1950s | 3 | 4 | 1 | United States |
| 1960s | 2.7 | 5.5 | 2.8 | United States |
| 1970s | 1.3 | 7 | 5.7 | United States |
| 1980s | 3.3 | 7 | 3.7 | United States |
| 1990s | 6.3 | 7 | 0.7 | United States |
| 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, South Korea or United States?
- South Korea, at 7 against 7 in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between South Korea and United States?
- 0, with South Korea ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for South Korea and United States?
- 78 years are reported by both, from 1948 to 2025.
- How do South Korea and United States rank globally for democracy?
- South Korea 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).