Voice and accountability (WGI)
Definition
Perceptions of the extent to which citizens can choose their government, and of freedom of expression, association and the press. Estimate in units of a standard normal distribution (mean 0 and standard deviation 1 across countries), roughly from −2.5 to +2.5. Aggregates dozens of surveys and assessments by experts, NGOs and international organizations.
- Formula
- Unobserved components model weighting each source by its precision (Kaufmann, Kraay and Mastruzzi, 2011).
- Unit
- estimate (≈ −2.5 to +2.5)
- Uncertainty
- 90% confidence interval: estimate ± 1.645 × standard error published by the WGI.
- License
- CC-BY-4.0
Voice and accountability (WGI)
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Voice and accountability (WGI)
- Source: World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators · Source version: 2026-09-25 · Collected on: 2026-10-26 · License: CC-BY-4.0
· Paper behind the metric: Kaufmann, D
Uncertainty: 90% confidence interval: estimate ± 1.645 × standard error published by the WGI.
Download data (CSV) · View the code: collection code · chart.ts
View the data as a table
| Year | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 0.15 (-0.16–0.46) | 0.29 (-0.02–0.60) | 0.79 (0.48–1.10) | -0.56 (-0.87–-0.26) | -0.15 (-0.45–0.16) |
| 1998 | 0.13 (-0.18–0.44) | 0.18 (-0.13–0.48) | 0.62 (0.32–0.93) | -0.51 (-0.82–-0.20) | -0.09 (-0.40–0.21) |
| 2000 | 0.24 (-0.06–0.55) | 0.31 (0.00–0.62) | 0.86 (0.55–1.17) | -0.54 (-0.85–-0.23) | 0.13 (-0.17–0.44) |
| 2002 | 0.41 (0.15–0.68) | 0.34 (0.08–0.61) | 1.20 (0.93–1.46) | -0.51 (-0.77–-0.24) | 0.29 (0.02–0.55) |
| 2003 | 0.42 (0.15–0.68) | 0.44 (0.17–0.70) | 1.15 (0.89–1.42) | -0.52 (-0.78–-0.25) | 0.33 (0.06–0.59) |
| 2004 | 0.50 (0.24–0.76) | 0.49 (0.23–0.76) | 1.14 (0.87–1.40) | -0.28 (-0.51–-0.05) | 0.37 (0.10–0.63) |
| 2005 | 0.67 (0.41–0.93) | 0.54 (0.28–0.80) | 1.28 (1.02–1.54) | -0.28 (-0.50–-0.05) | 0.38 (0.12–0.64) |
| 2006 | 0.67 (0.42–0.92) | 0.53 (0.29–0.78) | 1.28 (1.02–1.54) | -0.22 (-0.45–0.00) | 0.27 (0.02–0.51) |
| 2007 | 0.65 (0.41–0.90) | 0.53 (0.29–0.78) | 1.29 (1.03–1.56) | -0.18 (-0.40–0.04) | 0.23 (-0.02–0.47) |
| 2008 | 0.76 (0.51–1.00) | 0.46 (0.21–0.71) | 1.18 (0.93–1.43) | -0.10 (-0.32–0.12) | 0.24 (-0.01–0.49) |
| 2009 | 0.68 (0.47–0.90) | 0.45 (0.23–0.67) | 1.21 (0.96–1.46) | -0.12 (-0.34–0.10) | 0.35 (0.13–0.57) |
| 2010 | 0.73 (0.51–0.94) | 0.51 (0.29–0.73) | 1.18 (0.93–1.43) | -0.12 (-0.34–0.10) | 0.37 (0.15–0.59) |
| 2011 | 0.63 (0.43–0.84) | 0.44 (0.23–0.64) | 1.10 (0.88–1.33) | -0.00 (-0.21–0.20) | 0.23 (0.02–0.43) |
| 2012 | 0.71 (0.48–0.94) | 0.43 (0.20–0.66) | 1.09 (0.86–1.32) | -0.01 (-0.24–0.22) | 0.17 (-0.06–0.40) |
| 2013 | 0.59 (0.35–0.83) | 0.34 (0.10–0.58) | 1.10 (0.86–1.34) | -0.07 (-0.31–0.17) | 0.15 (-0.09–0.39) |
| 2014 | 0.57 (0.33–0.80) | 0.38 (0.14–0.62) | 1.11 (0.87–1.34) | -0.02 (-0.26–0.22) | 0.06 (-0.18–0.30) |
| 2015 | 0.58 (0.35–0.82) | 0.43 (0.19–0.67) | 1.08 (0.84–1.32) | 0.05 (-0.19–0.28) | -0.01 (-0.25–0.23) |
| 2016 | 0.54 (0.30–0.78) | 0.50 (0.26–0.74) | 1.09 (0.85–1.33) | 0.08 (-0.15–0.32) | -0.03 (-0.27–0.21) |
| 2017 | 0.52 (0.29–0.75) | 0.60 (0.36–0.84) | 1.08 (0.84–1.32) | 0.07 (-0.17–0.31) | -0.08 (-0.31–0.15) |
| 2018 | 0.40 (0.15–0.64) | 0.65 (0.40–0.91) | 1.08 (0.83–1.33) | 0.12 (-0.13–0.37) | 0.02 (-0.23–0.26) |
| 2019 | 0.32 (0.08–0.56) | 0.63 (0.38–0.88) | 1.03 (0.78–1.28) | 0.13 (-0.12–0.38) | 0.01 (-0.23–0.26) |
| 2020 | 0.29 (0.04–0.53) | 0.63 (0.38–0.88) | 1.04 (0.79–1.29) | 0.11 (-0.14–0.37) | -0.02 (-0.26–0.23) |
| 2021 | 0.16 (-0.08–0.41) | 0.58 (0.33–0.83) | 1.00 (0.75–1.25) | 0.02 (-0.23–0.27) | -0.12 (-0.37–0.12) |
| 2022 | 0.12 (-0.13–0.36) | 0.54 (0.29–0.79) | 1.02 (0.77–1.27) | 0.12 (-0.13–0.37) | -0.14 (-0.38–0.10) |
| 2023 | 0.28 (0.04–0.53) | 0.53 (0.28–0.79) | 1.04 (0.78–1.29) | 0.12 (-0.13–0.37) | -0.16 (-0.41–0.08) |
| 2024 | 0.40 (0.16–0.65) | 0.43 (0.18–0.67) | 1.02 (0.76–1.27) | 0.12 (-0.13–0.38) | -0.24 (-0.49–0.00) |
| 2025 | 0.42 (0.18–0.67) | 0.45 (0.20–0.69) | 1.04 (0.78–1.29) | 0.04 (-0.21–0.30) | -0.28 (-0.53–-0.04) |
Criticisms of the metric
- Confidence intervals are wide: small differences between years or countries are often not statistically significant.
- The scale is relative: the world average is 0 every year, so the indicator cannot show global improvement or decline, only position relative to other countries.
- Perception-based; sources may react to news and economic performance, not only to institutional quality.
- The series starts in 1996 and was biennial until 2002 (no 1997, 1999 or 2001).
References
- Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., & Mastruzzi, M. (2011). The Worldwide Governance Indicators: methodology and analytical issues. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 3(2), 220–246. doi:10.1017/S1876404511200046