London, February 15 (CNA) Taiwan ranks first in Asia and top among 167 countries and territories in the 2023 Democracy Index released Thursday by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). It remains in 10th place.
However, according to the EIU's Democracy Index 2023: Times of Conflict, Taiwan's score was 8.92 out of 10, slightly lower than the 8.99 it was given in 2022.
In Asia, Taiwan leads regional partners South Korea and Japan, ranking 16th and 22nd, respectively, according to the index report.
In 2021, Taiwan was ranked the 8th strongest democracy in the world and the strongest democracy in Asia with a score of 8.99.
According to the 2023 Democracy Index, Norway remains the most democratic country, a position it has held for 14 years, followed by New Zealand and Iceland.
Rounding out the top 10 are Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, China and Uzbekistan are tied for 148th place.
EIU is an economic consultancy affiliated with The Economist, providing forecasting and advisory services.
“This should be a year of triumph for democracy, with more people expected to vote in the 2024 national elections than ever before,” The Economist said in a report on the rankings on Wednesday. We're going to have problems.”
According to The Economist, this year's Democracy Index found that “out of more than 70 elections, only 43 can be expected to be completely free and fair.”
The index ranks countries and regions based on 60 indicators grouped into five categories: electoral processes and pluralism, government functioning, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.
Based on the indicators, each country is given an overall score from 0 to 10 and classified as either a “full democracy,” “flawed democracy,” “hybrid regime,” or “authoritarian regime.” Masu.
In its annual index report, the EIU said last year was a “bad year for democracy”, with the average global index score falling to 5.23, the lowest level since the index began in 2006. His score in 2022 was 5.29.
According to the report, “increasing incidences of violent conflict have significantly reduced global democracy scores and hindered post-pandemic recovery in 2020-2022.”
According to the 2023 Index, less than 8% of the world's population lives in full democracy, and up to 39.4% live under authoritarian rule, up from 36.9% in the 2022 report. EIU said.
Western Europe is the only region with an increase in the index, with 15 of the world's 24 “full democracies” located in this region.
Canada is the only “full democracy” in North America, while the United States has been classified as a “flawed democracy” since 2016.
In Asia and Australia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are listed as “full democracies”.
However, Asia's overall score fell from 5.46 in 2022 to 5.41 in 2023, the lowest since 2006.