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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Uruguay Is Governed

Uruguay is a unitary state that scores 0.79 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 31% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex marriage is legal. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Uruguay, 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.

Ownership0.00PublicPrivate4 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). State monopolies or leaders in fuel (ANCAP), power (UTE), telecom (ANTEL) and banking (BROU). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 87.4 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 50 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 30 (2026). Source
Markets+0.25PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 83.8 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 61.7 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 70.2 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): 0.55 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State controls major firms in several sectors beyond utilities (energy, banking, telecom, mining, transport) (2026). State monopolies or leaders in fuel (ANCAP), power (UTE), telecom (ANTEL) and banking (BROU). Source
Welfare+0.05SharedSelf-reliant3 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 31.5 (2025). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 6.53 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 73.3 (2026). Source
Authority-0.90DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.79 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.95 (2025). Source
Security-0.35LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 57 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 68.72 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Abolished for all crimes (2025). Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 449 (2024). Source
Structure0.00LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.99 (2025). Source
Morality-0.80ProgressiveTraditional3 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
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 82.93 (2025). Source
Religion-0.75SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Separation: no official or funded religion (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: None (2025). Source
Technology+0.05EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 0.7 (2023). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: Legal ban on nuclear power (2025). Law 16.832 (1997) prohibits nuclear power generation. Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: GM crops grown commercially (2025). Source
Culture-0.55MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 4.73 (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). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Allowed (2025). Source
Trade0.00GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 4.85 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 9.9 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 73.2 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 49.72 (2025). Source
Foreign policy-0.60CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 2.28 (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). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Uruguay

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

  1. 1Colombia88%
  2. 2Chile86%
  3. 3France83%
  4. 4South Africa83%
  5. 5Croatia82%
Least similarIran41%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to UruguayClosest: 1. Colombia 88%, 2. Chile 86%, 3. France 83%, 4. South Africa 83%, 5. Croatia 82%, 6. Czechia 82%, 7. Netherlands 81%, 8. South Korea 81%, 9. Romania 80%, 10. Brazil 78%. Least similar: Iran 41%. Every country is in the list after the map.Uruguay
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Figures from Uruguay

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FAQ

Uruguay: questions

How is Uruguay governed, on the 12 axes?

Uruguay is a unitary state that scores 0.79 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 31% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex marriage is legal. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Democratic on Authority (-0.90), Progressive on Morality (-0.80) and Secular on Religion (-0.75), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Uruguay?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Colombia (88%), Chile (86%) and France (83%). The furthest is Iran (41%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Uruguay come from?

From 41 indicators dated 2022 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 68.7 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 449 prisoners per 100,000 people (2024), military spending of 2.3% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 4.7% 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 Uruguay 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 Uruguay are on PoliticalTests?

So far José Mujica, 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.

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