Press Release for immediate release
Global democracy poll shows US perception plummets around the world
Copenhagen, 12th May 2025 -- The Democracy Perception Index (DPI), a poll of over 110,000 people in 100 countries, has shown that more countries around the world have a positive view of China than of the United States, and more people in authoritarian countries would be willing to defend against attacks compared to democracies.
The DPI, released by Nira Data and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, is the eighth instalment of the world’s largest annual study on democracy representative of more than 91% of the world’s population. It was prepared for the eighth-annual Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13-14.
Among the key findings from the study:
State of Democracy
- While democracy is in decline around the world, the study shows that people still believe in democracy, with over two-thirds saying that it is very important to have democracy in their country.
- But views on the purpose of democracy vary. In 52% of the countries surveyed, people say the main goal of democracy is to improve living standards and well-being. Enabling people to freely choose their government, or protecting individual freedoms and rights, were only selected as the top purpose by 19% and 16% of countries, respectively. Lastly, in only 13% of countries did most people say the main purpose of democracy is to promote a fair and peaceful society.
Security and defence
- In 85% of the countries that we surveyed people agreed with the statement that countries should follow international laws and agreements, even if it limits their freedom of action. Even in the world’s most powerful countries - including the US, Russia and China - people are strongly in favour of a rules-based international order.
- When it comes to priorities for defence, people in 86 countries see strengthening alliances and international partnerships as the most important defence activity. Ukraine is one of the only two countries where most people say maintaining or developing nuclear weapons as a deterrent is the most important priority. None of the surveyed countries saw mandatory military service as the highest priority. Poland and China are among the few countries who see increasing investment in national defence and military capabilities as more important than strengthening international alliances.
- Across the world, willingness to personally defend a country against attacks is much higher in authoritarian countries (59%) than in democracies (45%). In Europe, willingness to fight is very mixed, with high rates in Norway, Greece and Sweden, but low rates in Moldova, France, Belgium and Italy.
- On defence spending, Europe is split: there’s a strong majority of people in Ukraine, Poland, Norway, Georgia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK in favour of higher defence spending, even if that means higher taxes and/or reduced spending. On the opposite end, an equally strong majority of people is against increased defence spending in Italy, France, Greece, Austria and Belgium. Germany is ambivalent, with no clear majority in either way.
Government Effectiveness
- At a global level, people’s rating of their government’s effectiveness across 18 different policy areas is very low, with an average score of 2.77 (out of 5).
- Policy areas in which governments are seen as particularly ineffective relate to the costs of living, reducing poverty, and providing access to affordable housing, with a global average score around 2.5 out of 5.
- Among OECD countries, the country that is perceived by its citizens to be most well-run is Denmark, followed by Switzerland and Norway. At the bottom of the ranking is Hungary, Turkey and the UK.
Perception of Countries
- The image of the US has deteriorated significantly around the world, with a global net perception rating going from +22% in 2024 to -5% in 2025. The share of countries with a positive image of the US dropped from 76% to 45% over the same period.
- The global perception of the US (-5%) is now more negative than that of China (+14%), and close to Russia (-9%). Israel stands out with the lowest global perception (-23%).
- President Trump also has an almost universal negative perception rating: in 82% of countries around the world, Trump has a net negative rating, significantly worse than both Putin (61%) and Xi (44%).
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO Chief and Founder of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, said:
“I’m not surprised that perceptions of the United States have fallen so sharply, although I find it reassuring that support for the rules-based international order remains strong around the world.
“The mixed views on defence spending and people’s willingness to defend their country are quite concerning, especially in Europe. We face serious threats to our security, and our governments must make the case to their voters for investing in our defences today, to ensure freedom and peace prevail.
“Every year, this poll confirms the same point: around the world people believe in democracy, but those fortunate to live in democracies are impatient for their governments to deliver.”
Nico Jaspers, CEO at Nira Data, said:
“This year’s Democracy Perception Index highlights a world standing at a pivotal crossroads. While democracy continues to command strong and widespread support—with over two-thirds of people around the globe affirming its importance—citizens worry deeply about their government’s ability to improve living standards, manage the economy, and provide security.
“At the same time, shifting perceptions of global powers reveal deeper currents of change. For the first time, more countries now hold a positive view of China than of the United States—a striking indicator of how public opinion is evolving across different regions and political systems.
“As always, our mission with the Democracy Perception Index is to provide clear, data-driven insights that capture both the challenges and opportunities facing democracy today. We hope this report will enable policymakers, civil society, and engaged citizens worldwide to navigate these complexities and work together to renew and strengthen democratic institutions for the future.”
The eighth Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th May will focus on the urgent imperative for democracies to re-arm, especially in Europe, with transatlantic strain and the growing threat from Russia and other autocrats.
Speakers on defence at this year’s summit include EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Head of Office to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, former NATO Military Committee Chief Admiral Rob Bauer, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Mihail Popșoi and Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.
The summit will also discuss the current state of transatlantic relations with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson giving his views on how to handle the Trump Administration, and Greenland Deputy PM Múte Bourup Egede (who served as PM from 2021-2025) giving their viewpoint on the new world order.
The first day will be concluded with an in-person appearance by Tsai Ing-Wen, former President of Taiwan.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The report can be downloaded at: https://niradata.com/dpi - if linking to the report in any stories, please use this link.
Methodology:
This report presents an overview of a study conducted by Nira Data and the Alliance of Democracies in April 2025. The sample of n=111,273 online-connected respondents was drawn across 100 countries, with an average sample size of around 1,100 respondents per country. Nationally representative results were calculated based on the official distribution of age and gender for each country’s population, sourced from the most recent and available data from Barro Lee & UNStat, and census.gov. The average margin of error across all countries sampled is (+/-) 4.6 percentage points.
Countries polled were :
Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic (the), Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico (US), Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
The full results tables for this and previous years are available below:
Democracy Perception Index – 2025 – Results Tables
Democracy Perception Index - 2024 - Results Tables
Democracy Perception Index - 2023 - Results Tables
Democracy Perception Index – 2022 – Results Tables
Democracy Perception Index – 2021 – Results Tables
Democracy Perception Index - 2020 - Results Tables
Democracy Perception Index - 2019 - Results Tables
About Nira Data:
Nira Data was founded in 2025 to create an institutional home for the Democracy Perception Index (DPI) and to expand its reach. Our broader mission is to build a platform that makes global public opinion more accessible—empowering researchers, policymakers, journalists, and democracy advocates with reliable, high-quality data on how people around the world see their societies and the world niradata.com
To view the full agenda of the 2025 Copenhagen Democracy Summit, visit our website here
To request interviews on the Democracy Perception Index please contact: media@allianceofdemocracies.org
If you are a broadcaster and would like to access the live feed of the summit, please contact: media@allianceofdemocracies.org
The event will be live streamed on the Alliance of Democracies YouTube channel
