Antigua and Barbuda Ranks 37 out of 142 in the WorldJustice Project Rule of Law Index

For the seventh year in a row, the rule of law has eroded in a majority of countries, according to the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2024.

In the last year, the rule of law declined in 57% of countries surveyed. However, Antigua and Barbuda is among the minority of countries to see its WJP Rule of Law Index score increase this year.

Antigua and Barbuda’s overall rule of law score increased by less than 1% in this year’s Index. It ranks 37th out of 142 countries worldwide.

Regionally, Antigua and Barbuda ranks 5th out of 32 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.* The region’s top performer is Uruguay (ranked 24th out of 142 globally), followed by Costa Rica and Barbados. The three countries with the lowest scores in the region are Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela (142nd globally).

In the last year, 20 out of 32 countries declined in Latin America and the Caribbean. Of those 20 countries, 13 had also declined in the previous year.

Among high-income countries, Antigua and Barbuda ranks 36th out of 47.**

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Antigua and Barbuda and global trends

Since 2016, a global rule of law recession has affected 77% of countries studied, including Antigua and Barbuda.

Globally, the declines were largely driven by authoritarian trends. Between 2016 and 2024, the Index factor measuring Fundamental Rights fell in 81% of countries, including Antigua and Barbuda.

Over the past seven years, Index scores for Constraints on Government Powers have fallen in 77% of countries—including Antigua and Barbuda. Around the world, legislatures, judiciaries, and civil society—including the media—have all lost ground on checking executive power, the Index shows.

While these and other authoritarian trends had slowed a little last year, they expanded in 2024. Antigua and Barbuda is among the 63% of countries where Fundamental Rights fell in the past year. Antigua and Barbuda is not among the 59% of countries where Constraints on Government Powers fell in the past year.

Despite this global backsliding, a smaller majority of countries experienced overall rule of law declines this year (57%) as compared to the last two (59% and 61%).

One reason is that some progress was made globally in the fight against corruption between 2023 and 2024. This year, 59% of countries saw their Index scores for Absence of Corruption improve—including Antigua and Barbuda.

“After years of rule of law declines it can be easy to focus on the negative. But to do so would ignore accomplishments in anti-corruption and the hard work occurring to improve justice systems globally,” WJP Co-founder and President William H. Neukom said. “We must redouble our efforts to expand these rule of law gains in all areas.”

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Global rankings

Globally, the top-ranked country in the 2024 WJP Rule of Law Index is Denmark, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Germany. The country with the lowest score is Venezuela, followed by Cambodia, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Myanmar.

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Antigua and Barbuda’s WJP Rule of Law Index rankings

Overall score global rank: 37 / 142
Overall score regional rank: 5 / 32

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Factor score rankings:

FACTOR	GLOBAL RANK	REGIONAL RANK*	INCOME RANK**
Constraints on Government Powers	41 / 142	7 / 32	36 / 47
Absence of Corruption	44 / 142	9 / 32	39 / 47
Open Government	62 / 142	16 / 32	41 / 47
Fundamental Rights	33 / 142	5 / 32	32 / 47
Order and Security	46 / 142	3 / 32	36 / 47
Regulatory Enforcement	37 / 142	5 / 32	36 / 47
Civil Justice	23 / 142	3 / 32	23 / 47
Criminal Justice	50 / 142	11 / 32	39 / 47

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