Mauritius is the only full-fledged democracy of Africa according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2017
EDB Mauritius
Economic Development Board (EDB) Mauritius expert driving economic growth in the Republic of Mauritius.
The latest edition of the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2017 provides a snapshot of the state of democracy across 165 independent states and two territories globally. The index is measured on a scale of 0 to 10 based on five broad categories namely the electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.
According to the Index, Mauritius occupies the first position in Africa with an overall score of 8.22 and is ranked 16th out of 167 countries worldwide. The country has gained 2 positions as compared to the 2016 edition where it stood at the 18th position globally. It should be highlighted that Mauritius is the considered as the only “fully free “democracy in Africa.
Norway tops the global ranking as the most democratic country in the world with a score of 9.87 followed by Iceland, Sweden and New Zealand. At the other end of the rankings, North Korea, an authoritarian regime scored a total of 1.08, remains firmly ensconced in last place. Syria (166th) , Chad (165th), the Central African Republic (CAR) (164th) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (163rd) also bring up the rear, occupying the four slots above North Korea.
The Report has underscored that 49.3 percent of the world's population lives in some form of democracy while only 4.5 percent of people live in full democracies.