Democracy in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso: Democracy was 0 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Democracy in Burkina Faso, 1919–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for democracy in Burkina Faso is 0, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 92 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 100.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Burkina Faso peaked at 6 in 2015 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1919.
That places Burkina Faso 176th out of 198 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Democracy in Burkina Faso, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 0 | — |
| 1920 | 0 | — |
| 1921 | 0 | — |
| 1922 | 0 | — |
| 1923 | 0 | — |
| 1924 | 0 | — |
| 1925 | 0 | — |
| 1926 | 0 | — |
| 1927 | 0 | — |
| 1928 | 0 | — |
| 1929 | 0 | — |
| 1930 | 0 | — |
| 1931 | 0 | — |
| 1947 | 0 | — |
| 1948 | 2 | — |
| 1949 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 3 | +50.0% |
| 1961 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 1 | -66.7% |
| 1966 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1967 | 0 | — |
| 1968 | 0 | — |
| 1969 | 0 | — |
| 1970 | 1 | — |
| 1971 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1975 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | 0 | — |
| 1978 | 3 | — |
| 1979 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1981 | 0 | — |
| 1982 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | 0 | — |
| 1984 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | 0 | — |
| 1987 | 0 | — |
| 1988 | 0 | — |
| 1989 | 0 | — |
| 1990 | 0 | — |
| 1991 | 1 | — |
| 1992 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 3 | +200.0% |
| 1999 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2015 | 6 | — |
| 2016 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 6 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 2023 | 0 | — |
| 2024 | 0 | — |
| 2025 | 0 | — |
Burkina Faso compared with similar countries
- Burkina Faso's 0 is below the median for low income countries, which is 1. (25 countries reporting)
- Burkina Faso's 0 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1940s | 1.33 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1950s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.6 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.3 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 2000s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.2 | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 2020s | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Burkina Faso
- 176 Afghanistan 0 compare
- 176 Bangladesh 0 compare
- 176 Brunei 0
- 176 China 0 compare
- 176 Eritrea 0 compare
- 176 Guinea-Bissau 0 compare
- 176 Haiti 0 compare
- 176 Kuwait 0 compare
- 176 Libya 0 compare
- 176 Madagascar 0 compare
- 176 Mali 0 compare
- 176 Myanmar 0 compare
- 176 Niger 0 compare
- 176 Palestine 0
- 176 Qatar 0 compare
- 176 Saudi Arabia 0
- 176 Somalia 0 compare
- 176 South Sudan 0
- 176 Sudan 0 compare
- 176 United Arab Emirates 0
- 176 Vatican 0
- 176 Yemen 0 compare
More public sector data for Burkina Faso
- Democracy, annual growth rate -100 % change on previous year (2022)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate -100 % change on previous year (2022)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate -100 % change on previous year (2022)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate -100 % change on previous year (2022)
- Chief executive of the government is elected 0 (2025)
- Elected parliament 0 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
- Competitive elections 0 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Burkina Faso?
- Democracy in Burkina Faso was 0 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The highest recorded value was 6 in 2015.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1919.
- How does Burkina Faso rank for democracy?
- Burkina Faso ranks 176th out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Burkina Faso?
- Over the last ten years it is down 100.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Burkina Faso data come from?
- The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 92 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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).