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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Nigeria Is Governed

Nigeria is a federal state that scores 0.31 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 12% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty remains in law, with no executions in the last five years and same-sex relations are criminalized. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Nigeria, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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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-0.35PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State controls major firms in several sectors beyond utilities (energy, banking, telecom, mining, transport) (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 29.7 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 30 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 30 (2026). Source
Markets-0.05PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 50.3 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 75.4 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 56.1 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): -0.65 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State controls major firms in several sectors beyond utilities (energy, banking, telecom, mining, transport) (2026). Source
Welfare+0.90SharedSelf-reliant3 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 11.98 (2025). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 0.6 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 84.6 (2026). Source
Authority+0.30DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.31 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.42 (2025). Source
Security0.00LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 24 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 48.11 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Retentionist, no executions in the last 5 years (2025). Last executions in 2016. Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 33 (2025). Source
Structure-0.90LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Federation (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.92 (2025). Source
Morality+0.90ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Same-sex relations criminalized (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: Prohibited, or only to save the woman's life (2025). Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 51.1 (2025). Source
Religion+0.45SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Established or official religion, or religious law in part of the territory or courts (2025). Secular federal constitution; sharia courts and sharia criminal codes in twelve northern states. Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: In force (2025). Source
Technology0.00EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 0.28 (2019). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: No nuclear power, no legal ban (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: GM crops grown commercially (2025). Source
Culture+0.85MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 0.6 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 15 years (2025). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Restricted (some countries only, permission, or exceptions) (2025). Source
Trade+0.45GlobalProtected3 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 9.34 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 11.9 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 64.4 (2026). Source
Foreign policy-0.85CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 0.91 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: None: volunteer forces or no military (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: State party (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: Other mutual defense commitment only (EU Treaty art. 42.7, Rio Treaty, Arab League treaty, bilateral pact) (2026). ECOWAS Protocol on Mutual Assistance in Defence (1981). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Nigeria

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

  1. 1Indonesia82%
  2. 2Kenya79%
  3. 3India76%
  4. 4Pakistan76%
  5. 5Philippines71%
Least similarNew Zealand41%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to NigeriaClosest: 1. Indonesia 82%, 2. Kenya 79%, 3. India 76%, 4. Pakistan 76%, 5. Philippines 71%, 6. Egypt 69%, 7. United Arab Emirates 68%, 8. Venezuela 67%, 9. Brazil 64%, 10. Romania 63%. Least similar: New Zealand 41%. Every country is in the list after the map.Nigeria
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FAQ

Nigeria: questions

How is Nigeria governed, on the 12 axes?

Nigeria is a federal state that scores 0.31 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 12% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty remains in law, with no executions in the last five years and same-sex relations are criminalized. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Traditional on Morality (+0.90), Local on Structure (-0.90) and Self-reliant on Welfare (+0.90), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Nigeria?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Indonesia (82%), Kenya (79%) and India (76%). The furthest is New Zealand (41%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Nigeria come from?

From 40 indicators dated 2019 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 48.1 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 33 prisoners per 100,000 people (2025), military spending of 0.9% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 0.6% 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 Nigeria 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.

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