State of democracy improved in Mexico in 2025 as region shows signs of deterioration

In 2025, Mexico experienced a slight improvement in its democratic state, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). President Claudia Sheinbaum's first full year in office saw a slight increase in the country's overall score, which rose from 1.770 in 2024 to 1.778 in 2025.

This improvement was seen in two of the four categories assessed by International IDEA: rule of law and representation. However, Mexico fell in the other two categories, rights and participation.

In the "Rule of Law" category, Mexico scored 0.370 out of 1 and rose seven positions to rank 112th globally. This improvement was attributed to better judicial elections in 2025, as Sheinbaum had stated in December 2024 that Mexico could be "perhaps" the most democratic country in the world. Mexico's score in this category was an improvement of 0.009 points compared to 2024.

In the "Representation" category, Mexico's score of 0.550 and ranking of 83rd out of 173 countries declined by 0.003 points from 2024 to 2025. Mexico achieved its best score and ranking in this category, placing it on par with Paraguay and Hungary, who scored the highest in this category. Denmark, Germany, and Costa Rica topped the rankings in this category. The United States ranked 51st, while Canada ranked 25th.

Mexico's scores in the "Rights" and "Participation" categories remained unchanged and unchanged in its ranking, respectively. The United States ranked 42nd in "Rights" and Canada ranked 27th in "Participation". Overall, International IDEA reported that while Mexico's democratic state showed a slight improvement in 2025, many other countries were experiencing erosion in their democratic institutions.