Pakistan democracy ranking drops six places in 2024: report

Pakistan’s democracy ranking has fallen six places in 2024, placing it among the world’s 10 worst-performing countries, according to the latest Democracy Index report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The report analyses democratic trends in 165 independent states and two territories, assessing five key areas: electoral process and pluralism, government functioning, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

Based on scores, countries are categorised into four governance systems: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regimes, or authoritarian rule.

Globally, democracy has declined, with Pakistan ranked 124th and receiving an overall score of 2.84, classifying it under authoritarian governance.

The report attributes the global decline to deteriorating scores in authoritarian regimes, noting that such governments tend to become increasingly repressive over time.

According to the report, 39.2 per cent of the world’s population now lives under authoritarian rule, a figure that has been rising in recent years.

Read more: Pakistan becomes the world's fifth-largest democracy

Currently, 60 countries are classified as authoritarian.

The regional analysis highlighted that Asia and Australasia’s average democracy score fell for the sixth consecutive year, from 5.41 to 5.31 in 2024.

Bangladesh experienced the largest decline, followed by South Korea and Pakistan.

The report specifically noted that Bangladesh, South Korea, and Pakistan saw the most significant drops in global rankings, falling by 25, 10, and 6 places, respectively.