Countries With the Fastest Growth in Government effectiveness score (5-Year Change)

Name: Countries With the Fastest Growth in Government effectiveness score (5-Year Change)
Creator: The World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Change in Government effectiveness score over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0 (Worldwide Governance Indicators terms)).

Summary

Somalia, Fed. Rep. rose the most: by 24.6, from -46.4 score (-2.5 to 2.5) to -21.8 score (-2.5 to 2.5) in the five years to 2023. South Sudan is second (+23.2), followed by Yemen, Rep. (+22.7). 112 countries rose over that period; the median change among them was +8.11.

#1: Somalia, Fed. Rep. · +24.6
Median: +8.11
Coverage: 112 countries
Data year: 2023
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: 5-year change (score (-2.5 to 2.5)). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Somalia, Fed. Rep. 24.6; 2. South Sudan 23.2; 3. Yemen, Rep. 22.7; 4. Comoros 19.1; 5. Venezuela, RB 17.4; 6. Libya 17.3; 7. Korea, Dem. People's Rep. 17.3; 8. Central African Republic 17.3; 9. Eritrea 17.3; 10. Burundi 17.2.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Growth in Government effectiveness score (5-Year Change), 2023
Rank	Country	From	To	5-year change (score (-2.5 to 2.5))
1	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	-46.4	-21.8	+24.6
2	South Sudan	-48.8	-25.6	+23.2
3	Yemen, Rep.	-47.7	-25	+22.7
4	Comoros	-35.9	-16.9	+19.1
5	Venezuela, RB	-35	-17.6	+17.4
6	Libya	-35.3	-18	+17.3
7	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	-33.6	-16.3	+17.3
8	Central African Republic	-36.4	-19.1	+17.3
9	Eritrea	-37	-19.7	+17.3
10	Burundi	-30.4	-13.2	+17.2
11	Haiti	-41.2	-24.5	+16.7
12	Togo	-22.9	-6.36	+16.6
13	Chad	-32.7	-16.3	+16.4
14	Guinea-Bissau	-32	-15.8	+16.2
15	Syrian Arab Republic	-35.7	-19.7	+16
16	Tajikistan	-24.3	-8.5	+15.8
17	Congo, Dem. Rep.	-32.9	-18.6	+14.3
18	Zimbabwe	-27.1	-12.9	+14.3
19	Madagascar	-25.4	-11.3	+14.1
20	Nigeria	-23.4	-9.33	+14.1
21	Liberia	-27.7	-14.9	+12.8
22	Djibouti	-20.6	-8.05	+12.6
23	Sudan	-34.1	-21.7	+12.4
24	Sierra Leone	-24.9	-12.7	+12.2
25	Mozambique	-20.1	-7.88	+12.2
26	Guinea	-21.5	-9.99	+11.5
27	Tanzania	-16.3	-5.01	+11.3
28	Iraq	-26.5	-15.3	+11.3
29	Solomon Islands	-19.3	-8.07	+11.2
30	Nepal	-19.9	-8.89	+11
31	El Salvador	-10.2	0.555	+10.8
32	Benin	-13.2	-2.41	+10.8
33	Equatorial Guinea	-25	-14.5	+10.5
34	Timor-Leste	-19.8	-9.26	+10.5
35	Congo, Rep.	-25.1	-14.7	+10.5
36	Niger	-17.3	-7.05	+10.3
37	Angola	-21	-11.1	+9.93
38	Uzbekistan	-12.8	-3.12	+9.63
39	Afghanistan	-31.5	-21.9	+9.61
40	Côte d'Ivoire	-13.5	-3.95	+9.56
41	Dominican Republic	-8.09	1.41	+9.5
42	Turkmenistan	-22.8	-13.3	+9.48
43	Gambia, The	-15.7	-6.5	+9.22
44	Cambodia	-12.5	-3.36	+9.1
45	Mali	-21.5	-12.5	+8.94
46	Belize	-13.1	-4.14	+8.94
47	Marshall Islands	-8.06	0.77	+8.83
48	Mauritania	-17.2	-8.4	+8.81
49	Lesotho	-19.3	-10.5	+8.79
50	Gabon	-17.3	-8.58	+8.71
51	Moldova	-10.5	-1.81	+8.66
52	Maldives	-10	-1.41	+8.63
53	Dominica	-5.6	2.87	+8.47
54	Uganda	-14.5	-6.04	+8.41
55	Kosovo	-9.25	-0.881	+8.37
56	Bangladesh	-15.9	-7.67	+8.27
57	Lao PDR	-15	-7.08	+7.96
58	Cameroon	-17.9	-9.97	+7.94
59	Senegal	-6.85	0.766	+7.62
60	Paraguay	-12.6	-5.08	+7.56
61	Pakistan	-13.9	-6.36	+7.54
62	Malawi	-16.7	-9.45	+7.29
63	Tuvalu	-11.9	-4.95	+6.99
64	Kenya	-10.3	-3.34	+6.95
65	Morocco	-7.28	-0.395	+6.89
66	Egypt, Arab Rep.	-9.43	-2.63	+6.79
67	São Tomé and Principe	-16.4	-9.93	+6.46
68	Zambia	-13.6	-7.25	+6.39
69	Ukraine	-9.58	-3.93	+5.65
70	Ghana	-6.65	-1.02	+5.63
71	Ethiopia	-13.9	-8.46	+5.42
72	Antigua and Barbuda	-0.993	4.18	+5.18
73	Guatemala	-15	-9.87	+5.11
74	Papua New Guinea	-13.8	-8.83	+4.99
75	Bahrain	2.68	7.67	+4.99
76	Nicaragua	-16.9	-11.9	+4.99
77	Brazil	-10.9	-6.01	+4.85
78	Burkina Faso	-13.4	-9.09	+4.34
79	Eswatini	-14	-9.73	+4.26
80	Honduras	-12.9	-8.75	+4.15
81	Grenada	-4.17	-0.067	+4.1
82	Mexico	-6.06	-2.18	+3.88
83	Suriname	-14.3	-10.6	+3.69
84	Kyrgyz Republic	-13.5	-9.8	+3.66
85	Myanmar	-22.9	-19.3	+3.6
86	Vanuatu	-9.71	-6.25	+3.46
87	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-14	-10.6	+3.34
88	Indonesia	3.07	6.38	+3.31
89	West Bank and Gaza	-16.5	-13.3	+3.23
90	Saudi Arabia	5.88	8.76	+2.88
91	Algeria	-10.2	-7.37	+2.79
92	Romania	-3.63	-1.02	+2.61
93	Azerbaijan	-2.92	-0.359	+2.57
94	Kuwait	-2.46	0.083	+2.54
95	Sri Lanka	-5.3	-2.78	+2.53
96	Rwanda	1.78	4.27	+2.49
97	Kazakhstan	-0.773	1.62	+2.39
98	Guam	4.81	7.2	+2.39
99	Jordan	2.12	4.25	+2.13
100	Guyana	-5.33	-3.24	+2.09

Showing the top 100 of 112. Premium downloads the full list as CSV or JSON.

About the top 10

#1 Somalia, Fed. Rep.

Somalia, Fed. Rep. ranks #1 on this list with +24.6.

Capital: Mogadishu
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 19.66 million people (2025)
GDP: US$13 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$661.2 (2025)
Life expectancy: 59 years (2024)
Urban population: 55.1% of population (2025)

Largest cities: North East State of Somalia, Mogadishu.

Also ranks #1 in prevalence of undernourishment · #2 in population ages 0-14 share · #2 in age dependency ratio (young).

Full country profile

#2 South Sudan

South Sudan ranks #2 on this list with +23.2.

Capital: Juba
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 12.19 million people (2025)
Life expectancy: 57.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 21.7% of population (2025)
Currency: South Sudanese pound
Official languages: English

Also ranks #1 in infant mortality rate · #4 in inflation rate · #4 in maternal mortality ratio.

Full country profile

#3 Yemen, Rep.

Yemen, Rep. ranks #3 on this list with +22.7.

Capital: Sanaa, Aden
Continent: Asia
Income group: Low income
Population: 41.77 million people (2025)
Life expectancy: 69.4 years (2024)
Urban population: 37% of population (2025)
International tourist arrivals: 398,000 arrivals (2015)
CO2 emissions per person: 0.261 t CO2e per person (2024)

Largest cities: Sanaa, Aden.

Also ranks #2 in prevalence of stunting (under-5) · #2 in prevalence of wasting (under-5) · #12 in unemployment rate.

Full country profile

#4 Comoros

Comoros ranks #4 on this list with +19.1.

Capital: Moroni
Continent: Africa
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 882,850 people (2025)
GDP: US$1.81 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$2,056 (2025)
Life expectancy: 67 years (2024)
Urban population: 33.9% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in low-birthweight babies share · #4 in agriculture value added share of gdp · #10 in agricultural land share.

Full country profile

#5 Venezuela, RB

Venezuela, RB ranks #5 on this list with +17.4.

Capital: Caracas
Continent: South America
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 28.52 million people (2025)
GDP: US$99.66 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$3,495 (2025)
Life expectancy: 72.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 89.3% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Caracas, Maracaibo, Valencia.

Also ranks #1 in time to start a business (days) · #3 in protected terrestrial area share · #11 in refugee population by origin.

Full country profile

#6 Libya

Libya ranks #6 on this list with +17.3.

Capital: Tripoli
Continent: Africa
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 7.46 million people (2025)
GDP: US$48.1 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$6,449 (2025)
Life expectancy: 71.1 years (2024)
Urban population: 87.9% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Tripoli.

Also ranks #1 in natural resource rents share of gdp · #1 in oil rents share of gdp · #2 in industry value added share of gdp.

Full country profile

#7 Korea, Dem. People's Rep.

Korea, Dem. People's Rep. ranks #7 on this list with +17.3.

Capital: Pyongyang
Continent: Asia
Income group: Low income
Population: 26.57 million people (2025)
Life expectancy: 73.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 64.2% of population (2025)
CO2 emissions per person: 2.5 t CO2e per person (2024)
Currency: North Korean won

Largest cities: Pyongyang.

Also ranks #2 in hospital beds per 10,000 · #3 in armed forces personnel · #6 in female labour force participation.

Full country profile

#8 Central African Republic

Central African Republic ranks #8 on this list with +17.3.

Capital: Bangui
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 5.51 million people (2025)
GDP: US$3.07 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$556.1 (2025)
Life expectancy: 57.7 years (2024)
Urban population: 44.6% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in population ages 0-14 share · #1 in age dependency ratio · #1 in age dependency ratio (young).

Full country profile

#9 Eritrea

Eritrea ranks #9 on this list with +17.3.

Capital: Asmara
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 3.61 million people (2025)
Life expectancy: 68.9 years (2024)
Urban population: 34.5% of population (2025)
International tourist arrivals: 142,000 arrivals (2016)
CO2 emissions per person: 0.22 t CO2e per person (2024)

Also ranks #5 in time to start a business (days) · #9 in refugee population by origin · #12 in female labour force participation.

Full country profile

#10 Burundi

Burundi ranks #10 on this list with +17.2.

Capital: Gitega
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 14.39 million people (2025)
GDP: US$3.36 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$233.8 (2025)
Life expectancy: 63.8 years (2024)
Urban population: 25.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in prevalence of stunting (under-5) · #3 in forest rents share of gdp · #3 in real effective exchange rate index.

Full country profile

Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Source and method

Change in Government effectiveness score over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that rose are listed.

Source: The World Bank, indicator GE.EST. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Worldwide Governance Indicators terms). Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Government Effectiveness: Estimate: Worldwide Governance Indicators, World Bank (WB) (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators, World Bank (WB).

Values are shown as published (changes are computed from the published values). Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.

Summary

Full ranking

About the top 10

#1 Somalia, Fed. Rep.

#2 South Sudan

#3 Yemen, Rep.

#4 Comoros

#5 Venezuela, RB

#6 Libya

#7 Korea, Dem. People's Rep.

#8 Central African Republic

#9 Eritrea

#10 Burundi

Related rankings

Source and method