Global decline in democracy and rise of autocracy

Reports from the V-Dem Institute and Freedom House indicate a significant global decline in democracy, with approximately 74 percent of the world’s population—roughly six billion people—living under autocratic regimes. Freedom House noted that 2025 marked the twentieth consecutive year of decline in global freedom, with the proportion of the population in democracies falling from 50 percent to 26 percent over two decades.

Experts suggest democratic erosion is increasingly driven by elected leaders who use their mandates to alter rules for their own advantage rather than through traditional military coups.

By September 2026, the number of autocratic states (92) had surpassed the number of democracies (87) for the first time in over two decades. The V-Dem Institute identified several drivers for this shift, including the paralysis of the United Nations Security Council, the erosion of media and academic freedom, and the targeting of electoral and judicial systems. Additionally, the institute noted that the United States has lost its status as a liberal democracy for the first time in over half a century.