San Marino vs South Africa: Democracy
San Marino
7
in 2025
South Africa
7
in 2025
San Marino rank
1st
South Africa rank
1st
Democracy over time
- San Marino
- South Africa
How they compare
San Marino currently reports 7 against 7 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was South Africa ahead.
San Marino ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, San Marino averaged higher in 7 and South Africa in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | San Marino | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1.7 | 0 | 1.7 | San Marino |
| 1910s | 5 | 4 | 1 | San Marino |
| 1920s | 1.8 | 4 | 2.2 | South Africa |
| 1930s | 1 | 4 | 3 | South Africa |
| 1940s | 3 | 4 | 1 | South Africa |
| 1950s | 5.6 | 3 | 2.6 | San Marino |
| 1960s | 7 | 3 | 4 | San Marino |
| 1970s | 7 | 3 | 4 | San Marino |
| 1980s | 7 | 3 | 4 | San Marino |
| 1990s | 7 | 5.4 | 1.6 | San Marino |
| 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, San Marino or South Africa?
- San Marino, at 7 against 7 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between San Marino and South Africa?
- 0, with San Marino ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for San Marino and South Africa?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do San Marino and South Africa rank globally for democracy?
- San Marino 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).