PoliticalTests
Cuba flag

Policy profile on 12 axes

How Cuba Is Governed

Cuba is a unitary state that scores 0.06 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). The death penalty remains in law, with no executions in the last five years and same-sex marriage is legal. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Cuba, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

Which country matches you? See the 12 axes
World map with Cuba markedCuba

Explore every country on the map

Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership-0.95PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Command economy: nearly all productive assets state owned (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 27.7 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 10 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 10 (2026). Source
Markets-0.90PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 41.4 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 20 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 20 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): -1.58 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Command economy: nearly all productive assets state owned (2026). Source
Welfaren/aSharedSelf-reliant2 indicators and sources
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 7.83 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 51.9 (2026). Source
Authority+1.00DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.06 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.09 (2025). Source
Security+0.75LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 9 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 29.22 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Retentionist, no executions in the last 5 years (2025). Last executions in 2003. Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 794 (2020). Source
Structure+1.00LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.02 (2025). Source
Morality-1.00ProgressiveTraditional2 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Same-sex marriage legal (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: On request (within a gestational limit) (2025). Source
Religion-1.00SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: State promotes atheism or tightly controls all religion (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: None (2025). Source
Technology+0.25EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 0.44 (2024). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: No nuclear power, no legal ban (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: None grown, no ban (2025). Source
Culture-0.15MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 0.02 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: Unconditional birthright citizenship (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 5 years (2025). Review. Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Restricted (some countries only, permission, or exceptions) (2025). Source
Trade+0.10GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 9.16 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 10.6 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 72.8 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 124.86 (2024). Source
Foreign policy+0.35CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 2.88 (2018). Source
  • Military conscription: Universal compulsory service (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Not a party (never joined, signed only, or withdrew) (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: None, or formal neutrality outside any pact (2026). Source

How country profiles are scored · Report a data error

Policy neighbours

Governed most like Cuba

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Cuba on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Turkey72%
  2. 2Ukraine71%
  3. 3China69%
  4. 4Vietnam69%
  5. 5Russia65%
Least similarSwitzerland36%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to CubaClosest: 1. Turkey 72%, 2. Ukraine 71%, 3. China 69%, 4. Vietnam 69%, 5. Russia 65%, 6. Colombia 62%, 7. Hungary 62%, 8. Venezuela 61%, 9. Mexico 57%, 10. Saudi Arabia 57%. Least similar: Switzerland 36%. Every country is in the list after the map.Cuba
Similar to this country
  • Under 55%
  • 65 to 74%
  • 85% or more
  • This country
  • No profile yet
Hover, tap or tab to a country. A click opens its page.

★ Country match · 63 countries ★

See which country matches your politics

Is it Cuba? Take the 12 Axes test and your result ranks every profiled country by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to your views.

Find your country

Figures from Cuba

Every figure, filtered

FAQ

Cuba: questions

How is Cuba governed, on the 12 axes?

Cuba is a unitary state that scores 0.06 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). The death penalty remains in law, with no executions in the last five years and same-sex marriage is legal. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Strong leader on Authority (+1.00), Progressive on Morality (-1.00) and Secular on Religion (-1.00), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Cuba?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Turkey (72%), Ukraine (71%) and China (69%). The furthest is Switzerland (36%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Cuba come from?

From 39 indicators dated 2018 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 29.2 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 794 prisoners per 100,000 people (2020), military spending of 2.9% of GDP (SIPRI, 2018) and 0% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Cuba think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

Which political figures from Cuba are on PoliticalTests?

So far José Martí and Fidel Castro, each placed on the 12 axes of the 12 Axes Political Test from their own speeches, writings and record, with sources on the profile page. More figures are added over time.

More countries

All 63 countries