Gabon stands out among the few countries highlighted in the 2026 report from the Swedish institute Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) for its improved democratic trajectory. While many African nations are listed as backsliding democracies, Gabon is cited as an example of progress, notably due to the return to constitutional order after the Transition and the organisation of the 2025 elections.
Gabon is recording a positive signal on the democratic governance front. In its 2026 report published in June, the Swedish institute Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), an international reference for evaluating political systems, removes the country from the list of states experiencing democratic decline and places it among the positive developments observed worldwide.
According to the data presented by V-Dem, Gabon ranks 114th out of 179 assessed countries. While this ranking still shows significant challenges to overcome, it nevertheless marks a break with trends observed in recent years, when the country was regularly associated with states suffering a deterioration in their democratic indicators.
The 2025 elections highlighted by V-Dem
The report attributes this improvement to the institutional changes that occurred at the end of the Transition, particularly the organisation of the general elections in 2025 and the return to civilian power. For V-Dem, these developments place Gabon among the few countries identified as showing a dynamic of democratic progress. The report also mentions Lebanon, Mauritius and South Korea among the positive developments noted internationally.
This assessment comes at a time when several countries in sub-Saharan Africa continue, according to V-Dem, to record a deterioration in their democratic indicators.
While this development is an encouraging sign, it does not mean that Gabon is now among the highest-ranked democracies. With a 114th worldwide ranking, the country still faces major challenges in governance, institutional consolidation, citizen participation and strengthening the rule of law.
The report also notes that democratic progress remains reversible and that several countries that previously experienced improvement later recorded a decline. In this context, the improvement noted by V-Dem appears more as a step than an endpoint.
An indicator watched by international partners
V-Dem’s work is widely used by researchers, international organisations, donors and embassies to track the evolution of political systems around the world. For Gabon, this improvement could help enhance its image with international partners, at a time when the authorities are showing their willingness to continue the institutional reforms begun since the political Transition that started on 30 August 2023.
The challenge now is to transform the momentum driven by President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema into lasting advances so that future international assessments confirm the country’s anchoring on a path of democratic consolidation.
