According to the Democracy Index for 2022 published by the British The Economist, Serbia has regressed and holds the 68th place with 6.33 index points. As in previous years, the country is classified as a “flawed democracy.“

Serbia is down five places compared to 2021 when it was 63rd, with an average score of 6.36, while two years ago it was 66th.

The latest report of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), entitled ‘Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine,’ included, as in 2021, 167 countries that are divided into four categories – full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

The Democracy Index of the EIU, which is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper, is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

According to an overall score based on the scores in these five categories, the number of countries in the ‘flawed democracy’ category dropped from 53 in 2021 to 48.

The number of ‘full democracies’ went up from 21 to 24, the largest number of countries is in the ‘authoritarian regime’ group – 59, while there are 36 countries in the ‘hybrid regime’ category.

Serbia’s overall score is 6.33 out of ten, and it is 68th, ahead of Moldova and behind Guyana. It scored best for “electoral process and pluralism” – 7.83, and the worst, same as last year, for “political culture”– 3.75.

All countries of the Western Balkans and former Yugoslavia are in the category of “flawed democracies”, with the exception of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is classified as a “hybrid regime.”

The average global index score stagnated in 2022. Despite expectations of a rebound after the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, the score was almost unchanged, at 5.29 out of ten, compared with 5.28 in 2021.