Governance at a glance
- Government
- Unitary Westminster parliamentary system
- UN member
- Yes
- Independent
- Yes
- CPI score (2026)
- 70/100
- Press freedom (2025)
- 78.9/100 #20
- Electoral democracy (2025)
- 0.772
- HDI
- 0.946
Government and leaders
- Government type
- Unitary Westminster parliamentary system
| Title | Name |
|---|---|
| Monarchy of the United Kingdom | Charles III |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | Keir Starmer |
Safety and security
- Homicide rate (2021)
- 1.1/100k
- Traffic deaths (2019)
- 3.2/100k
- Military spending (2024)
- 2.3% of GDP
Corruption perceptions index
- CPI score (2026)
- 70 / 100
- Interpretation
- Low corruption
Democracy index
- Electoral (2025)
- 0.772
- Liberal
- 0.689
- Participatory
- 0.533
- Deliberative
- 0.665
- Egalitarian
- 0.612
Press freedom index
- Overall score (2025)
- 78.9 / 100
- Global rank
- #20 / 180
- Rank change
- +3 vs previous year
- RSF zone
- UE Balkans
- Political #16
- 81.5
- Economic #16
- 68.4
- Legal #40
- 75.6
- Social #31
- 78.5
- Safety #39
- 90.4
Press freedom historical data
| Year | Score | Rank | Political | Economic | Legal | Social | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 78.9 | 20 | 81.5 | 68.4 | 75.6 | 78.5 | 90.4 |
| 2024 | 77.5 | 23 | 80.1 | 69.4 | 74.4 | 75.4 | 88.3 |
| 2023 | 78.5 | 26 | 80.9 | 74.7 | 73.5 | 81.4 | 82.1 |
| 2022 | 78.7 | 24 | 80.6 | 72.8 | 76.6 | 84.3 | 79.3 |
| 2021 | 78.4 | 33 | - | - | - | - | 86.1 |
| 2020 | 77.1 | 35 | - | - | - | - | 55.0 |
| 2019 | 77.8 | 33 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2018 | 76.8 | 40 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2017 | 77.7 | 40 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2016 | 78.3 | 38 | - | - | - | - | 75.2 |
| 2015 | 80.0 | 34 | - | - | - | - | 100.0 |
| 2014 | 80.1 | 33 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2013 | 83.1 | 29 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2012 | 2.0 | 28 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2010 | 6.0 | 19 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2009 | 4.0 | 20 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | 5.5 | 23 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2007 | 8.3 | 24 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | 6.5 | 28 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2005 | 5.2 | 24 | - | - | - | - | - |