StIx

Composite Index: Three Dimensions

The Stateness Index is a tool for measuring stateness and state quality that includes country ranking through aggregated and disaggregated data to advance performance comparison and policy analysis.
We provide a composite index that compiles three central dimensions as main components—the monopoly of law, monopoly of violence, and monopoly of administration—into a single index and simultaneously keeps the multidimensionality of stateness through disaggregated scores.
Drawing on data from the Varieties-of-Democracy-Project (V-Dem), the index offers data for more than 170 countries in the period between 1950 and today. One exceptional strength of our index rests on both country and year coverage that surpasses existing indices that measure stateness by far.
The StIx data set can be visualized on the homepage, edited according to one's own selection criteria, and downloaded.

Two layers of conceptualization and operationalization

The innovation of the Stateness Index is the distinction between two layers of conceptualization and operationalization: the first layer of the concept presents the formal state and stateness that is measured through a set of indicators that represent formal or “official” institutions. The second layer of informality enriches the formal concept with informal institutions that exist alongside the formal institutional framework of a state. The inclusion of the second layer of measurement enhances the concept and captures the “reality” of stateness more accurately than the sole measurement of formal institutions.

Defining State and Stateness

The state is an institutionalized social and political order and organization of hierarchical authority that is in exclusive control of the Monopoly of Law, Monopoly of Violence and Monopoly of Administration throughout a given territory and its inhabitants.

Stateness as the performance of institutions denotes that a state can insert and uphold the laws enacted by the regime, possesses the means necessary to control both territory and populations and commands a bureaucratic infrastructure to implement and exert territorial sovereignty throughout the state territory.

Monopoly of Law, Monopoly of Violence, Monopoly of Administration

The three monopolies/dimensions - Monopoly of Law, Monopoly of Violence, Monopoly of Administration - capture the central functions of the state: legislative, judiciary, and executive. These are represented by central institutions. While the first two functions are linked to parliament (rule making) and courts (rule control and interpretation), the executive is divided into the function of enforcement (military, police) and implementation (government and state bureaucracy).

Two layers of Measurement: Formal and informal Institutions

In a comprehensive understanding of the state, empirical cases are always a mixture of formal and informal institutions and practices, which together shape the specific appearance of the state.

Formal institutions legally construct a state through written rules and regulations that are implemented and enforced by the state. The authority of informal institutions is not based on or originated from the state’s sovereign claim to the monopoly of law but evolves from the “power of the facts” as actual enforcement power of non-state actors and groups that enables them to legislate and enforce their own rules.

The impact formal and informal institutions have on each other varies significantly. The impact is ambiguous because it depends on a multitude of factors like prevalence, autonomy, role, and authority of non-state legal orders, which in turn vary across contexts, institutional settings, and dynamic factors.

For our index, we oversimplify the interactions between state and informality with a restriction to competing or conflictual relations and negative effects between formal and informal institutions.

To learn about Aggregation and Typology, click here. The Typology of StIx is primarily designed to outline discrepancies between types (high functioning to collapsed state), not within types.

The table below displays the Stateness Ranking for 2025 based on the total Value of the Context Measurement.

Ranking 2025 - Context Measurement

Rank	Country	Total Value	Classification	Context Law	Context Administration	Context Violence
1	Estonia	0,92	High functioning State	0,94	0,86	0,96
2	Singapore	0,91	High functioning State	0,90	0,94	0,88
3	Denmark	0,91	High functioning State	0,91	0,89	0,92
4	Luxembourg	0,90	High functioning State	0,88	0,87	0,97
5	Iceland	0,90	High functioning State	0,93	0,82	0,96
6	Norway	0,90	High functioning State	0,90	0,90	0,90
7	Germany	0,90	High functioning State	0,93	0,86	0,91
8	Netherlands	0,90	High functioning State	0,90	0,88	0,92
9	New Zealand	0,89	High functioning State	0,90	0,83	0,95
10	Seychelles	0,89	High functioning State	0,92	0,83	0,92
11	Uruguay	0,88	High functioning State	0,90	0,80	0,95
12	Belgium	0,88	High functioning State	0,90	0,84	0,91
13	Czechia	0,88	High functioning State	0,85	0,81	0,99
14	Japan	0,88	High functioning State	0,85	0,90	0,89
15	Austria	0,87	High functioning State	0,92	0,81	0,90
16	Latvia	0,87	High functioning State	0,88	0,82	0,93
17	Australia	0,87	High functioning State	0,93	0,89	0,80
18	Sweden	0,87	High functioning State	0,88	0,83	0,91
19	United Kingdom	0,87	High functioning State	0,84	0,82	0,93
20	Lithuania	0,86	High functioning State	0,88	0,80	0,91
21	France	0,86	High functioning State	0,88	0,86	0,84
22	Canada	0,86	High functioning State	0,86	0,82	0,91
23	Finland	0,86	High functioning State	0,88	0,85	0,85
24	Barbados	0,86	High functioning State	0,83	0,80	0,95
25	Ireland	0,86	High functioning State	0,84	0,83	0,90
26	Malta	0,85	High functioning State	0,87	0,78	0,90
27	United States of America	0,85	High functioning State	0,90	0,83	0,82
28	Spain	0,84	High functioning State	0,88	0,72	0,94
29	Slovenia	0,84	High functioning State	0,80	0,81	0,90
30	Switzerland	0,84	High functioning State	0,86	0,84	0,82
31	United Arab Emirates	0,83	High functioning State	0,84	0,76	0,90
32	Poland	0,83	High functioning State	0,80	0,77	0,91
33	Portugal	0,82	High functioning State	0,86	0,73	0,89
34	Costa Rica	0,81	High functioning State	0,86	0,71	0,86
35	Jamaica	0,81	High functioning State	0,85	0,74	0,83
36	Greece	0,80	High functioning State	0,81	0,79	0,81
37	South Korea	0,80	High functioning State	0,79	0,77	0,84
38	Taiwan	0,79	High functioning State	0,73	0,81	0,83
39	Chile	0,79	High functioning State	0,89	0,71	0,77
40	Montenegro	0,79	High functioning State	0,75	0,73	0,89
41	Slovakia	0,78	Moderate functioning State	0,82	0,66	0,88
42	Botswana	0,77	Moderate functioning State	0,81	0,63	0,90
43	Kuwait	0,76	Moderate functioning State	0,85	0,62	0,84
44	Maldives	0,76	Moderate functioning State	0,82	0,63	0,85
45	Italy	0,76	Moderate functioning State	0,85	0,79	0,65
46	Hungary	0,76	Moderate functioning State	0,79	0,68	0,81
47	Bhutan	0,75	Moderate functioning State	0,67	0,74	0,85
48	Oman	0,75	Moderate functioning State	0,88	0,67	0,71
49	Israel	0,74	Moderate functioning State	0,74	0,78	0,69
50	Croatia	0,74	Moderate functioning State	0,71	0,65	0,87
51	Romania	0,73	Moderate functioning State	0,75	0,62	0,82
52	Sri Lanka	0,73	Defective State	0,85	0,48	0,93
53	Tanzania	0,72	Moderate functioning State	0,74	0,61	0,84
54	Qatar	0,72	Moderate functioning State	0,70	0,66	0,82
55	Benin	0,72	Moderate functioning State	0,81	0,65	0,71
56	Trinidad and Tobago	0,72	Moderate functioning State	0,69	0,73	0,75
57	Mauritius	0,72	Moderate functioning State	0,82	0,75	0,60
58	China	0,71	Moderate functioning State	0,83	0,56	0,77
59	Argentina	0,71	Moderate functioning State	0,65	0,63	0,87
60	Bulgaria	0,70	Moderate functioning State	0,69	0,55	0,91
61	Malaysia	0,69	Moderate functioning State	0,64	0,64	0,80
62	The Gambia	0,69	Defective State	0,82	0,47	0,83
63	Saudi Arabia	0,69	Moderate functioning State	0,76	0,52	0,82
64	Namibia	0,68	Defective State	0,83	0,47	0,83
65	Kazakhstan	0,68	Moderate functioning State	0,66	0,60	0,80
66	Indonesia	0,68	Moderate functioning State	0,74	0,55	0,76
67	Brazil	0,68	Moderate functioning State	0,74	0,65	0,64
68	North Korea	0,67	Defective State	0,79	0,48	0,80
69	Serbia	0,67	Moderate functioning State	0,70	0,60	0,71
70	Albania	0,67	Moderate functioning State	0,65	0,57	0,80
71	Thailand	0,67	Moderate functioning State	0,73	0,58	0,71
72	Kyrgyzstan	0,66	Moderate functioning State	0,65	0,52	0,88
73	Mongolia	0,66	Defective State	0,73	0,44	0,87
74	Vietnam	0,65	Defective State	0,73	0,49	0,78
75	Guyana	0,65	Defective State	0,66	0,48	0,88
76	Ghana	0,65	Defective State	0,81	0,42	0,80
77	Algeria	0,64	Defective State	0,65	0,48	0,85
78	Jordan	0,64	Moderate functioning State	0,61	0,54	0,79
79	Tunisia	0,63	Defective State	0,77	0,43	0,78
80	Fiji	0,63	Defective State	0,77	0,40	0,83
81	Kosovo	0,63	Moderate functioning State	0,62	0,61	0,66
82	North Macedonia	0,63	Moderate functioning State	0,59	0,54	0,79
83	Senegal	0,63	Defective State	0,79	0,43	0,74
84	Cape Verde	0,63	Defective State	0,76	0,36	0,91
85	Cuba	0,62	Defective State	0,74	0,44	0,74
86	Uzbekistan	0,62	Defective State	0,70	0,40	0,84
87	Moldova	0,62	Moderate functioning State	0,73	0,54	0,60
88	Panama	0,61	Moderate functioning State	0,69	0,63	0,52
89	Russia	0,60	Defective State	0,75	0,48	0,61
90	South Africa	0,60	Defective State	0,82	0,32	0,82
91	Nepal	0,60	Defective State	0,76	0,34	0,84
92	India	0,59	Defective State	0,70	0,38	0,80
93	Zambia	0,58	Defective State	0,77	0,36	0,72
94	Eswatini	0,58	Defective State	0,60	0,45	0,74
95	Cyprus	0,58	Defective State	0,73	0,73	0,36
96	Turkey	0,58	Defective State	0,71	0,47	0,57
97	Sao Tome and Principe	0,57	Profound defective State	0,83	0,29	0,77
98	Georgia	0,57	Moderate functioning State	0,53	0,67	0,53
99	Dominican Republic	0,57	Defective State	0,72	0,32	0,82
100	Philippines	0,57	Defective State	0,67	0,35	0,77
101	Kenya	0,56	Defective State	0,79	0,42	0,53
102	Mexico	0,56	Defective State	0,77	0,40	0,59
103	Burkina Faso	0,55	Defective State	0,70	0,57	0,43
104	Timor-Leste	0,55	Defective State	0,80	0,32	0,65
105	Lesotho	0,55	Defective State	0,63	0,39	0,67
106	Laos	0,55	Defective State	0,60	0,39	0,71
107	Azerbaijan	0,54	Defective State	0,58	0,39	0,71
108	Angola	0,54	Profound defective State	0,75	0,28	0,76
109	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0,54	Moderate functioning State	0,50	0,54	0,58
110	Belarus	0,54	Defective State	0,35	0,61	0,73
111	Peru	0,54	Defective State	0,64	0,39	0,62
112	Morocco	0,53	Defective State	0,57	0,43	0,62
113	Egypt	0,53	Profound defective State	0,72	0,28	0,74
114	Uganda	0,53	Defective State	0,58	0,38	0,67
115	Bangladesh	0,53	Profound defective State	0,72	0,25	0,83
116	Bahrain	0,52	Defective State	0,34	0,58	0,72
117	El Salvador	0,52	Defective State	0,54	0,30	0,86
118	Zimbabwe	0,52	Profound defective State	0,67	0,27	0,77
119	Turkmenistan	0,51	Defective State	0,50	0,33	0,79
120	Ecuador	0,51	Defective State	0,68	0,37	0,52
121	Bolivia	0,51	Defective State	0,62	0,44	0,48
122	Colombia	0,51	Defective State	0,75	0,39	0,44
123	Gabon	0,50	Defective State	0,66	0,38	0,51
124	Djibouti	0,50	Defective State	0,55	0,34	0,68
125	Rwanda	0,50	Profound defective State	0,66	0,27	0,68
126	Armenia	0,50	Defective State	0,50	0,40	0,60
127	Suriname	0,49	Defective State	0,74	0,47	0,34
128	Honduras	0,49	Defective State	0,57	0,35	0,59
129	Iran	0,49	Defective State	0,59	0,41	0,48
130	Sierra Leone	0,48	Profound defective State	0,74	0,23	0,64
131	Malawi	0,48	Profound defective State	0,72	0,22	0,68
132	Solomon Islands	0,48	Profound defective State	0,70	0,21	0,75
133	Guatemala	0,48	Defective State	0,62	0,30	0,60
134	Nigeria	0,47	Defective State	0,74	0,30	0,45
135	Guinea	0,46	Profound defective State	0,68	0,26	0,56
136	Ukraine	0,44	Defective State	0,59	0,49	0,30
137	Ivory Coast	0,44	Profound defective State	0,59	0,26	0,55
138	Mauritania	0,44	Profound defective State	0,60	0,23	0,61
139	Niger	0,44	Profound defective State	0,74	0,23	0,50
140	Cambodia	0,44	Defective State	0,54	0,33	0,47
141	Cameroon	0,43	Profound defective State	0,59	0,27	0,50
142	Togo	0,43	Defective State	0,53	0,34	0,44
143	Mali	0,42	Profound defective State	0,72	0,25	0,42
144	Guinea-Bissau	0,42	Profound defective State	0,66	0,24	0,47
145	Paraguay	0,42	Profound defective State	0,60	0,29	0,43
146	Iraq	0,41	Profound defective State	0,37	0,26	0,72
147	Tajikistan	0,40	Profound defective State	0,62	0,20	0,52
148	Mozambique	0,40	Profound defective State	0,68	0,21	0,45
149	Nicaragua	0,39	Profound defective State	0,52	0,26	0,45
150	Burundi	0,39	Profound defective State	0,67	0,12	0,73
151	Pakistan	0,38	Profound defective State	0,43	0,27	0,49
152	Liberia	0,35	Profound defective State	0,56	0,13	0,63
153	Lebanon	0,34	Defective State	0,31	0,35	0,36
154	Eritrea	0,34	Profound defective State	0,59	0,15	0,43
155	Republic of the Congo	0,34	Profound defective State	0,57	0,17	0,39
156	Madagascar	0,33	Profound defective State	0,54	0,14	0,49
157	Ethiopia	0,32	Profound defective State	0,63	0,22	0,24
158	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0,32	Profound defective State	0,52	0,20	0,30
159	Syria	0,30	Profound defective State	0,31	0,33	0,28
160	Burma/Myanmar	0,28	Profound defective State	0,72	0,24	0,13
161	Afghanistan	0,28	Profound defective State	0,36	0,21	0,29
162	Sudan	0,27	Profound defective State	0,52	0,26	0,14
163	Venezuela	0,26	Profound defective State	0,36	0,15	0,33
164	Papua New Guinea	0,25	Collapsed State	0,72	0,06	0,39
165	Chad	0,25	Collapsed State	0,41	0,09	0,45
166	Central African Republic	0,25	Profound defective State	0,29	0,12	0,44
167	Somalia	0,23	Collapsed State	0,56	0,08	0,29
168	Haiti	0,20	Profound defective State	0,36	0,10	0,24
169	South Sudan	0,18	Collapsed State	0,38	0,08	0,19
170	Yemen	0,10	Collapsed State	0,18	0,07	0,09
171	Libya	0,04	Collapsed State	0,00	0,30	0,22

Stateness 2025 - Context Measurement

Report 2025

Concept and Components

Informal Institutions and the State