Jamaica has retained its position as the leading country in the Caribbean for electoral democracy, according to the 2025 Electoral Democracy Index featured in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Regional Report on Democracy and Development 2026.
The island maintained a score of 0.8 on the index, which measures indicators including freedom of association, clean elections, freedom of expression, elected authorities, and suffrage.
The report, officially released on Monday, is titled Democracies Under Pressure: Reimagining the Futures of Democracy and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to the UNDP, Jamaica’s ranking reflects strong institutional stability at a time when several countries across the region are experiencing democratic “backsliding.”
The report noted that Jamaica has consistently maintained high electoral democracy scores since the 1990s, ranging between 0.75 and 0.82, remaining above the regional average.
It also found that 53 percent of Jamaicans believe democracy is the best system of government, despite concerns among some citizens about how it functions in practice.
The report highlighted citizen participation as a key pillar of democracy and pointed to the role of civil society organizations in promoting accountability.
“In Jamaica, organisations such as National Integrity Action (NIA) and Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) monitor government actions in awarding contracts and other public expenditures for possible conflicts of interest or corrupt practices,” the report stated.
On digital development, Jamaica was identified as the Caribbean’s second-highest ranked country on the Global Innovation Index, placing 79th globally.
The UNDP also pointed to Jamaica’s progress in reducing public debt as an example of the link between fiscal governance and democratic stability.
According to the report, Jamaica reduced its debt-to-GDP ratio from 144 percent in 2012 to 72 percent by 2023, despite slow economic growth, natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UNDP attributed much of that progress to fiscal governance reforms implemented through agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including Jamaica’s Fiscal Responsibility Framework introduced in 2010.
“The Framework included built-in flexibility, allowing the Government to modify its terms, with parliamentary approval, in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as a national disaster. Importantly, there was independent oversight of the mechanism to hold governments accountable and promote transparency and coherence,” the report noted.
More broadly, the report described Latin America and the Caribbean as the most democratic developing region and the third most democratic worldwide, with more than four out of five citizens living under elected governments.
However, it warned that democracies across the region continue to face mounting pressures tied to governance quality and public expectations.
UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Michelle Muschett, said those pressures should become an opportunity to build renewed agreements around the region’s development goals.
