Relocate IndexBest Countries for Rule of Law 2026
Rule of law decides whether contracts are enforced, whether you can trust the police and courts, and how often officials expect a bribe. It does not measure everyday etiquette (queuing, littering, noise norms) because no reliable cross-country data for those behaviours exists.
Scored using data from World Bank WGI Rule of Law, World Bank WGI Control of Corruption. 60 countries ranked.
Data last updated:
Top 15 countries for rule of law
Denmark
Northern Europe · Overall: 67.4
Finland
Northern Europe · Overall: 63.8
Norway
Northern Europe · Overall: 63.2
Switzerland
Western Europe · Overall: 65.6
Sweden
Northern Europe · Overall: 64.4
Luxembourg
Western Europe · Overall: 65.6
Netherlands
Western Europe · Overall: 69.6
New Zealand
Oceania · Overall: 72.4
Singapore
Southeast Asia · Overall: 72.7
Iceland
Northern Europe · Overall: 63.6
Australia
Oceania · Overall: 75.0
Germany
Western Europe · Overall: 64.7
Canada
North America · Overall: 67.5
Estonia
Northern Europe · Overall: 66.9
Ireland
Western Europe · Overall: 69.2
Lowest-scoring countries
How rule of law is calculated
How well courts, contracts and anti-corruption controls work, based on World Bank governance ratings. Street crime is scored under Safety.
civic_culture = wgi_rule_of_law × 0.55 + wgi_corruption_control × 0.45 (both World Bank percentile ranks, 0 to 100).
Limitation: WGI combines expert, business and household surveys, so it reflects how institutions are perceived. It measures institutions, not how people behave day to day.
Frequently asked questions
Which country has the best rule of law?
Denmark ranks 1st for rule of law with a score of 93 out of 100, based on data from World Bank WGI Rule of Law, World Bank WGI Control of Corruption.
How is the rule of law score calculated?
Rule of law decides whether contracts are enforced, whether you can trust the police and courts, and how often officials expect a bribe. It does not measure everyday etiquette (queuing, littering, noise norms) because no reliable cross-country data for those behaviours exists. Formula: civic_culture = wgi_rule_of_law × 0.55 + wgi_corruption_control × 0.45 (both World Bank percentile ranks, 0 to 100).
How many countries are ranked for rule of law?
60 countries have rule of law scores in the Relocate Index.