Changes from 2024

The 2026 edition keeps the structure of 2024: nine Domains, 11 Indicators in each, three Layers and the same grading system.

Indicators

Change	Indicators
New	7
Revised	10
Layer changed, wording unchanged	2
Grammar corrected	12
Additional Remark added or reworded, Indicator unchanged	14
Unchanged	54

The 7 new Indicators replace 7 Indicators of 2024. Two more Indicators changed Layer together with another change (Foreign Policy 5 and Domestic Politics 7), so four Indicators changed Layer in all. Each Indicator is compared with its 2024 counterpart on Indicator changes. The final wording, with examples and Additional Remarks, is on The indicators.

Coverage

110 countries and territories, up from 101. Eight are new, and Zambia, last assessed in 2022, returns. See Countries and regions.

Evidence periods

	2024	2026
Case Indicators	Cases from 1 January 2022 to the start of data collection	Cases from the 18 months before the response is written, and none from before 1 January 2025
System Indicators	In place when data collection begins	Unchanged. A system counts only while it remains in place, unless the Indicator asks about the past
Diplomatic Position Indicators	The tenure of the current ruling administration	Unchanged. A position from earlier in that tenure can be older than 18 months

See Evidence time periods.

Responses

	2024	2026
Scoring types	Named as binary or graded on some pages	Simple Yes-No (48), Graded Yes-No (47) and Diplomatic Position (4) on every page
Confidence rating	A percentage	Five levels, from 1 Low to 5 Very high
Time spent	Not recorded	Optional
Diplomatic Position: silent or skip	Not distinguished	Silent when the records show no position; Skip when the records are unavailable or unclear
Standard wording for Graded Yes-No responses	—	Typographical errors corrected

See Data collection and Writing responses.

Scoring

In 2024, Layer scores kept skipped Indicators in the maximum and were rounded to whole numbers. In 2026 they are calculated like Domain and overall scores: skipped Indicators are left out and scores are rounded to one decimal place. See Scoring and ranking.

Review

	2024	2026
Reviewer	At least one reviewer	At least one respondent and another reviewer for every Indicator

See Research process.

Glossary and committee

The Glossary now defines Active (Foreign Policy 1, Domestic Politics 2). The Index Committee for 2026–2027 has six members.

Methodology

Response manual

Reference

About this methodology

Indicators

Coverage

Evidence periods

Responses

Scoring

Review

Glossary and committee

​Indicators

​Coverage

​Evidence periods

​Responses

​Scoring

​Review

​Glossary and committee

Indicators

Coverage

Evidence periods

Responses

Scoring

Review

Glossary and committee