Latvia: Government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Latvia's government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100) rose 0.73 on 2024 (from 68.58 to 69.31).

Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2024), the average change was +0.43 and a typical year strayed about 1.63 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.48 in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.97 in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 10% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Latvia had the 50th highest value of the 205 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Latvia in the 2025 ranking

• Uruguay — 47th of 205: 70
• Mauritius — 48th of 205: 69.94
• Cyprus — 49th of 205: 69.39
• Poland — 51st of 205: 68.64
• Croatia — 52nd of 205: 68.1
• Seychelles — 53rd of 205: 68.01

What this measures

Government Effectiveness (GE) captures perceptions of the quality of public services, the civil service, policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of a government’s decisions. Governance score is a linear transformation of the governance estimate using hypothetical worst-case and base-case countries. It is an absolute score ranging from 0-100. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) confidence intervals (lower and upper bound). The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance score (respectively the underlying governance estimate) is based. The confidence intervals include the lower and upper bound of the 90% confidence interval for the governance score. Confidence intervals are a statistical range of values that likely contain the true value (of what is being estimated).

Limitations: The WGI are perception-based measures which draw on 35 distinct underlying data sources, namely expert assessments and household/firm surveys. Data sources based on expert assessments have both strengths and limitations relative to surveys. A key strength is that they are well suited to cross-country comparison, since their methodologies are explicitly designed for this purpose. Expert assessments can also provide more detailed technical judgments on specific public institutions or governance functions that typical household or firm survey respondents may not be well placed to assess.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a indicators, from the underlying data sources, are aggregated using the unobserved components model (ucm). the ucm is essentially a weighted average, resulting in a governance estimate at the country level. the following provides a detailed description of the aggregation methodology: https://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/sites/govindicators/doc/the%20worldwide%20governance%20indicators%202025%.

All 27 values

Government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100) in nearby economies

• Albania — 61.98 (2025)
• Andorra — 80.58 (2025)
• Armenia — 47.49 (2025)
• Austria — 83.94 (2025)
• Azerbaijan — 54.91 (2025)
• Belarus — 36 (2025)
• Belgium — 79.31 (2025)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 42.6 (2025)
• Bulgaria — 54.91 (2025)
• Croatia

More policy & institutions data for Latvia

• Control of Corruption - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 0.77 (2025)
• Control of Corruption - Governance score (0-100) — 63.57 (2025)
• Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 0.83 (2025)
• Political Stability - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 0.81 (2025)
• Political Stability - Governance score (0-100) — 79.78 (2025)
• Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 1.07 (2025)
• Rule of Law - Governance score (0-100) — 76.31 (2025)
• Regulatory Quality - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 1.02 (2025)
• Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Latvia's government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100)?

69.31 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1996?

It is up 81.17% from 38.26 in 1996 (2.07% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 71.01 in 2021 and the lowest 38.26 in 1996.

How does Latvia rank?

50th highest of 205 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100) unusual for Latvia?

In 2025, Latvia's government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100) rose 0.73 on 2024 (from 68.58 to 69.31). Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2024), the average change was +0.43 and a typical year strayed about 1.63 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GOV_WGI_GE_SC, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), uri: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators, note: Detailed documentation of the WGI, interactive tools for exploring the data, and full… Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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