India falls two places to 53 in Democracy Index's global ranking

India slipped two places to the 53rd position in the 2020 Democracy Index’s global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which said the “democratic backsliding” by authorities and “crackdowns” on civil liberties has led to a further decline in the country’s ranking. However, India is ranked higher than most of its neighbouring countries.

 

India’s overall score fell from 6.9 in 2019 to 6.61 in the Index that provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide for 167 countries.

 

"With mounting pressure on India's democratic norms, India's score fell from a peak of 7.92 in 2014 to 6.61 in 2020 and its global ranking slipped from 27th (in 2014) to 53rd as a result of democratic backsliding" under the current regime, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said.

 

Norway topped The Economist Intelligence Unit's latest Democracy Index report titled Democracy in sickness and in health?, with Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada making up the top five.