Sri Lanka makes big jump in Global Democracy Rankings

Sri Lanka has moved up 15 places in the 2025 Global Democracy Index compared to the previous year, according to the latest report by an intergovernmental democracy watchdog.

The Global State of Democracy 2025, published by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), has analyzed democratic performance in 173 countries in 2024.

Sri Lanka is ranked 58th in this year’s report with a score of 0.655 having jumped up 15 places from the previous year with only Botswana (20) and Mauritius (23) having made higher gains in the year-on-year rankings. 

“Sri Lanka performs in the mid-range across all four categories of the Global State of Democracy Framework and is among the top 25 per cent of countries in the world regarding several factors, including Civic Engagement and Electoral Participation,” the report said.

“Over the last five years, it has seen advances in Elected Government, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press s and declines in Freedom of Association and Assembly.” 

Sri Lanka is considered a lower middle income economy and is currently recovering from the most severe economic crisis of its post-independence history.

Fellow South Asian nations India, ranked 73rd, and Pakistan, ranked 113th, have both slipped three places in the latest rankings while Bangladesh has dropped 24 spots to 151st. 

In the report, 94 countries — or just over half of those surveyed — showed a decline in at least one of the key democracy indicators between 2019 and 2024, the report said. In comparison, only a third made progress.

Some of the biggest declines compared to 2019 were seen around the holding of credible elections, access to justice and having an effective parliament, the report found.

Africa accounted for the largest share of the global decline with 33%, followed by Europe with 25%.

West Asia is the region ranking lowest on democratic performance.

The report highlighted some positive examples, such Botswana and South Africa making consistent advances when it comes to credible elections, with both countries holding polls in 2024 that led to historic changes.

Denmark was the only country in the top five of all four democratic categories explored in the study: Representation, rule of law, participation and rights.

These rankings were dominated by European nations such as Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Luxembourg, with Costa Rica, Chile and Australia also scoring well.

Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and Myanmar — already among the poorest performers in press freedoms — posted the biggest falls, followed by South Korea.

The United States ranks lower than many other OECD countries, sitting at 35th place when it comes to representation and 32nd for rights.

--With Agencies Inputs