Chapter 7.4

Left and right across countries

The attitude that left-right self-placement follows most closely differs by country, and across countries the median correlations with economic attitudes, moral attitudes and the importance of God lie between +0.07 and +0.09.

Author: Vishal Singh
Affiliation: NYU Stern
Published: 30 September 2026

The attitude that left-right self-placement follows most closely differs from country to country. One attitude leads clearly, meaning that the lower end of its confidence interval lies above the estimates for the other two, in 51 of the 104 countries and territories in this chapter: economic attitudes in 29, religion in 16 and moral attitudes in 6. In 42 more, one attitude has the largest correlation but its lead is not clear, and in 11 none of the three has an interval above zero. The correlations are small: the median across countries is +0.07 for economic attitudes, +0.07 for moral attitudes and +0.09 for the importance of God.

The left-right question asks respondents to place themselves on a ten-point scale from left to right. This chapter takes it from the World Values Survey (WVS) and the European Values Study (EVS), fieldwork in 2005 or later, and sets it against three attitudes, each of which is an axis: an economic index (questions on income differences, government responsibility, state ownership and competition), a moral index (how justifiable homosexuality, abortion and divorce are) and the importance of God. The loading of an axis is its correlation with left-right inside one country, computed on survey-weighted answers. A loading of zero means that the attitude has no straight-line association with where people place themselves, and a positive loading means that people on the conservative, market-oriented or religious side place themselves further right on average.A country appears on an axis only when its effective sample size [1] is 300 or more, and its interval is a Fisher z interval [2], both defined in the methods note at the end of the chapter. Chapter 7.2, Economic and cultural dimensions looks at the economic and cultural dimensions inside the United States.

Which attitude leads differs by country

Figure 1 shades every country by the axis with the largest loading among the axes whose interval lies above zero, and it colors a country only when the lead is clear. A lead is clear when the lower end of the leading interval lies above the point estimate of every other axis. Otherwise the order of the top two could change in a new sample, and in 28 of the 104 countries the two largest loadings differ by less than 0.02. The other views of the map show the largest loading whether or not the lead is clear, and each loading with its interval. The axes rest on different numbers of items (Figure 5), and the four economic items agree only weakly, with a median pairwise correlation of +0.06 (see the section on definitions), so a lead compares loadings from measures of unequal quality.

Figure 1

One attitude clearly leads in 51 of 104 countries, most often economic attitudes

Axis with the largest correlation with left-right self-placement among the axes whose 95% interval is above zero, shown where the lead is clear, by country, fieldwork 2005-2023

Axis with a clear lead

No data (138 countries)

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Data for One attitude clearly leads in 51 of 104 countries, most often economic attitudes
Country	View	Axis with the largest loading	Status of the lead	Axis with a clear lead	Economic loading	Moral loading	Religious loading	Loading	Interval low	Interval high	Respondents
Albania	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.01	+0.02	+0.13	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Algeria	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.08	−0.09	−0.02	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Andorra	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.22	+0.21	+0.22	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Argentina	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.18	+0.16	+0.22	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Armenia	strongest	Economic	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.05	+0.03	+0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Australia	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.33	+0.22	+0.20	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Austria	strongest	Economic	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.21	+0.19	+0.13	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Azerbaijan	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.06	−0.03	+0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Bangladesh	strongest	Moral	Clear	Moral	−0.01	+0.17	+0.01	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Belarus	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.02	−0.01	+0.07	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Belgium	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.25	+0.08	+0.12	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Bolivia	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.04	0.00	+0.05	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Bosnia Herzegovina	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	−0.03	+0.13	+0.19	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Brazil	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.07	+0.09	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Bulgaria	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.25	−0.08	+0.05	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Burkina Faso	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.02	−0.09	−0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Canada	strongest	Economic	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.29	+0.29	+0.25	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Chile	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.26	+0.14	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Colombia	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.04	+0.14	+0.12	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Croatia	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.02	+0.33	+0.36	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Cyprus	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	0.00	+0.09	+0.07	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Czechia	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.37	−0.11	+0.01	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Denmark	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.46	+0.12	+0.06	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ecuador	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	0.00	−0.04	+0.05	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Egypt	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.18	n/a	0.00	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Estonia	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.26	−0.03	−0.06	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ethiopia	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.23	−0.11	+0.11	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Finland	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.44	+0.16	+0.19	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
France	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.34	+0.19	+0.18	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Georgia	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.03	+0.06	+0.05	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Germany	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.19	+0.16	+0.14	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ghana	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.25	−0.08	+0.03	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Greece	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.19	+0.29	+0.29	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Guatemala	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.04	+0.06	+0.06	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Haiti	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.03	+0.02	+0.01	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Hong Kong SAR	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	−0.01	−0.06	+0.06	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Hungary	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	0.00	+0.09	+0.15	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Iceland	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.50	+0.16	+0.13	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
India	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.06	0.00	+0.12	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Indonesia	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.04	−0.02	+0.07	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Iraq	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.01	+0.13	+0.07	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ireland	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.07	+0.22	+0.22	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Italy	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.24	+0.17	+0.19	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Japan	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.10	+0.14	+0.13	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kazakhstan	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.10	+0.04	+0.11	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kenya	strongest	Moral	Clear	Moral	−0.10	+0.10	−0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kosovo	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	+0.03	−0.02	−0.06	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kyrgyzstan	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.11	+0.18	+0.18	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Latvia	strongest	Economic	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.07	+0.02	+0.05	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Lebanon	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	−0.03	0.00	+0.11	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Libya	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.01	0.00	+0.03	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Lithuania	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.10	+0.04	+0.12	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Luxembourg	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.16	+0.23	+0.27	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Macau SAR	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.01	+0.02	+0.06	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Malaysia	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	−0.03	+0.09	+0.15	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Maldives	strongest	Moral	Clear	Moral	+0.02	+0.17	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mali	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	+0.02	+0.02	+0.01	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Malta	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.26	+0.16	+0.07	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mexico	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.02	+0.06	+0.10	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Moldova	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.10	−0.02	+0.05	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Mongolia	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	−0.16	+0.01	+0.20	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Montenegro	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	−0.04	+0.09	+0.15	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Morocco	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.09	+0.03	+0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Netherlands	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.39	+0.16	+0.13	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
New Zealand	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.46	+0.19	+0.13	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Nicaragua	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.07	−0.06	+0.02	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Nigeria	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	0.00	0.00	+0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
North Macedonia	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.02	+0.07	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Norway	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.45	+0.12	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Pakistan	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.15	+0.15	+0.17	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Palestine	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	−0.03	+0.09	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Peru	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.07	−0.02	+0.08	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Philippines	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Poland	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	0.00	+0.28	+0.28	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Portugal	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.12	+0.04	+0.15	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Puerto Rico	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.11	+0.11	+0.03	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Romania	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.11	−0.06	+0.01	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Russia	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.06	−0.01	+0.11	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Rwanda	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.11	0.00	0.00	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Serbia	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.01	+0.07	+0.08	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Singapore	strongest	Moral	Clear	Moral	−0.04	+0.18	+0.11	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Slovakia	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.12	−0.04	−0.01	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Slovenia	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	−0.03	+0.30	+0.33	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
South Africa	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.05	−0.07	+0.07	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
South Korea	strongest	Moral	Clear	Moral	+0.02	+0.20	+0.06	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Spain	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.20	+0.32	+0.36	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Sweden	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.59	+0.05	+0.03	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Switzerland	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.34	+0.20	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Taiwan ROC	strongest	Moral	Clear	Moral	−0.09	+0.12	+0.02	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Tajikistan	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.11	−0.03	+0.27	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Thailand	strongest	Economic	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.04	−0.04	+0.02	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Trinidad and Tobago	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	+0.04	−0.02	+0.02	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Tunisia	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	−0.03	+0.09	+0.11	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Turkey	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	+0.08	+0.19	+0.21	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ukraine	strongest	Religious	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.08	+0.01	+0.10	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
United Kingdom	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.36	+0.17	+0.12	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
United States	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.41	+0.37	+0.28	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Uruguay	strongest	Economic	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.21	+0.19	+0.20	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Uzbekistan	strongest	Religious	Clear	Religious	−0.13	−0.01	+0.19	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Venezuela	strongest	Economic	Clear	Economic	+0.24	+0.02	−0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Vietnam	strongest	Moral	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.10	+0.13	+0.09	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Zambia	strongest	Economic	Not clear	No clear lead	+0.08	+0.03	−0.02	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Zimbabwe	strongest	No axis above zero	No axis above zero	No clear lead	−0.08	−0.02	−0.04	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Albania	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	2,211
Algeria	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.08	−0.16	+0.01	532
Andorra	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.22	+0.17	+0.26	1,822
Argentina	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.18	+0.14	+0.23	2,293
Armenia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.02	+0.09	3,788
Australia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.33	+0.30	+0.36	4,426
Austria	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.21	+0.17	+0.25	2,705
Azerbaijan	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.06	−0.10	−0.01	2,158
Bangladesh	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.06	+0.05	1,200
Belarus	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.02	+0.05	3,213
Belgium	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.25	+0.20	+0.30	1,414
Bolivia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	1,778
Bosnia Herzegovina	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.07	+0.02	2,298
Brazil	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.04	+0.10	3,642
Bulgaria	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.25	+0.21	+0.29	2,773
Burkina Faso	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.08	+0.04	1,058
Canada	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.29	+0.26	+0.32	5,629
Chile	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.26	+0.21	+0.31	2,103
Colombia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	+0.01	+0.07	5,016
Croatia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.03	+0.07	2,352
Cyprus	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	3,266
Czechia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.37	+0.35	+0.40	3,991
Denmark	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.46	+0.43	+0.49	4,679
Ecuador	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,238
Egypt	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.18	+0.15	+0.22	4,238
Estonia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.26	+0.23	+0.29	3,302
Ethiopia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.23	+0.19	+0.28	1,917
Finland	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.44	+0.40	+0.47	2,932
France	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.34	+0.31	+0.37	3,827
Georgia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	0.00	+0.07	4,227
Germany	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.17	+0.22	8,683
Ghana	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.25	+0.21	+0.30	2,333
Greece	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.15	+0.24	2,184
Guatemala	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	−0.01	+0.10	1,213
Haiti	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.07	+0.02	1,944
Hong Kong SAR	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	3,946
Hungary	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.03	3,447
Iceland	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.50	+0.46	+0.53	2,307
India	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	5,436
Indonesia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	4,061
Iraq	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.06	+0.07	975
Ireland	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	−0.01	+0.15	687
Italy	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.24	+0.21	+0.27	3,509
Japan	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.07	+0.14	3,446
Kazakhstan	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.05	+0.15	1,500
Kenya	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.10	−0.15	−0.04	1,161
Kosovo	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.05	+0.11	654
Kyrgyzstan	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.06	+0.16	1,461
Latvia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.02	+0.11	2,056
Lebanon	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.10	+0.04	834
Libya	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.06	+0.04	2,447
Lithuania	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.05	+0.15	1,871
Luxembourg	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.16	+0.10	+0.22	1,257
Macau SAR	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.07	+0.05	995
Malaysia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.07	+0.01	2,613
Maldives	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,023
Mali	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,147
Malta	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.26	+0.19	+0.33	750
Mexico	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.01	+0.04	4,752
Moldova	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.05	+0.15	1,651
Mongolia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.16	−0.20	−0.10	1,613
Montenegro	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.10	+0.02	1,250
Morocco	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.05	+0.14	1,909
Netherlands	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.39	+0.37	+0.41	7,741
New Zealand	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.46	+0.42	+0.50	1,372
Nicaragua	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.07	−0.13	0.00	871
Nigeria	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,927
North Macedonia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.03	+0.07	1,759
Norway	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.45	+0.42	+0.48	3,148
Pakistan	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.15	+0.09	+0.20	1,200
Palestine	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.10	+0.05	727
Peru	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.03	+0.10	3,280
Philippines	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	2,389
Poland	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.03	+0.03	3,718
Portugal	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.06	+0.17	1,895
Puerto Rico	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.05	+0.17	1,047
Romania	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.08	+0.14	4,705
Russia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	4,564
Rwanda	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.07	+0.15	2,552
Serbia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.03	+0.04	3,746
Singapore	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.09	0.00	1,743
Slovakia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	3,336
Slovenia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.07	0.00	3,138
South Africa	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.01	+0.08	5,541
South Korea	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.02	+0.07	3,637
Spain	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	4,200
Sweden	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.59	+0.57	+0.61	4,213
Switzerland	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.34	+0.32	+0.37	5,154
Taiwan ROC	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.09	−0.13	−0.06	3,554
Tajikistan	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.05	+0.17	1,200
Thailand	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	3,758
Trinidad and Tobago	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	−0.01	+0.10	1,211
Tunisia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.08	+0.02	1,682
Turkey	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.08	+0.05	+0.10	6,325
Ukraine	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.08	+0.03	+0.12	4,667
United Kingdom	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.36	+0.34	+0.39	6,124
United States	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.41	+0.38	+0.44	5,866
Uruguay	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.21	+0.17	+0.25	2,571
Uzbekistan	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.13	−0.21	−0.05	591
Venezuela	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.24	+0.19	+0.30	1,190
Vietnam	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.05	+0.16	1,376
Zambia	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.08	+0.01	+0.14	948
Zimbabwe	economic	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.08	−0.13	−0.04	2,627
Albania	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	2,220
Algeria	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.09	−0.17	0.00	521
Andorra	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.21	+0.16	+0.25	1,821
Argentina	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.16	+0.12	+0.21	2,240
Armenia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.01	+0.06	3,780
Australia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.22	+0.18	+0.25	4,430
Austria	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,681
Azerbaijan	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.08	+0.02	2,138
Bangladesh	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.17	+0.11	+0.22	1,200
Belarus	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	3,202
Belgium	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.08	+0.02	+0.13	1,419
Bolivia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.05	+0.05	1,780
Bosnia Herzegovina	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.08	+0.17	2,285
Brazil	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.06	+0.12	3,624
Bulgaria	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.08	−0.12	−0.04	2,709
Burkina Faso	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.09	−0.15	−0.03	1,084
Canada	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.29	+0.26	+0.32	5,604
Chile	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.14	+0.08	+0.19	2,077
Colombia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.14	+0.11	+0.16	5,015
Croatia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.33	+0.29	+0.37	2,358
Cyprus	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.05	+0.13	3,262
Czechia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.11	−0.14	−0.07	3,909
Denmark	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	4,701
Ecuador	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.08	0.00	2,235
Estonia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.07	+0.01	3,240
Ethiopia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.11	−0.15	−0.06	1,902
Finland	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.16	+0.12	+0.20	2,910
France	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.15	+0.22	3,818
Georgia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	4,271
Germany	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.16	+0.13	+0.18	8,668
Ghana	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.08	−0.13	−0.04	2,324
Greece	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.29	+0.25	+0.33	2,188
Guatemala	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.01	+0.12	1,213
Haiti	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	1,932
Hong Kong SAR	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.06	−0.09	−0.02	3,955
Hungary	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.06	+0.12	3,448
Iceland	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.16	+0.11	+0.20	2,306
India	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.02	+0.03	5,618
Indonesia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.06	+0.02	4,086
Iraq	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.07	+0.19	968
Ireland	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.22	+0.14	+0.30	665
Italy	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.17	+0.14	+0.21	3,452
Japan	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.14	+0.11	+0.17	3,354
Kazakhstan	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	−0.01	+0.09	1,500
Kenya	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.05	+0.16	1,127
Kosovo	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.10	+0.06	655
Kyrgyzstan	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.18	+0.13	+0.23	1,459
Latvia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	2,028
Lebanon	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.07	+0.07	837
Libya	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.05	+0.04	2,514
Lithuania	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	−0.01	+0.08	1,829
Luxembourg	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.23	+0.17	+0.29	1,254
Macau SAR	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	997
Malaysia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.05	+0.12	2,613
Maldives	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.17	+0.11	+0.23	1,023
Mali	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,081
Malta	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.16	+0.09	+0.24	751
Mexico	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.03	+0.08	4,734
Moldova	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.07	+0.03	1,638
Mongolia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	1,613
Montenegro	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.03	+0.15	1,250
Morocco	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.01	+0.08	1,904
Netherlands	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.16	+0.13	+0.18	7,801
New Zealand	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.14	+0.24	1,352
Nicaragua	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.06	−0.12	+0.01	871
Nigeria	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.05	2,928
North Macedonia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.02	+0.12	1,763
Norway	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	3,142
Pakistan	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.15	+0.09	+0.21	1,200
Palestine	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.02	+0.16	725
Peru	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.06	+0.02	2,183
Philippines	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.05	2,389
Poland	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	3,646
Portugal	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	−0.01	+0.10	1,915
Puerto Rico	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.05	+0.17	1,049
Romania	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.06	−0.09	−0.03	4,615
Russia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.04	+0.03	4,507
Rwanda	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.03	2,554
Serbia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.03	+0.11	3,654
Singapore	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.18	+0.13	+0.22	1,737
Slovakia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.08	0.00	3,260
Slovenia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.30	+0.26	+0.33	3,127
South Africa	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.07	−0.10	−0.03	5,512
South Korea	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.20	+0.16	+0.24	3,637
Spain	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.32	+0.30	+0.35	4,220
Sweden	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.02	+0.08	4,155
Switzerland	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	5,159
Taiwan ROC	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.08	+0.15	3,536
Tajikistan	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.03	−0.09	+0.03	1,200
Thailand	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.07	−0.01	3,751
Trinidad and Tobago	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.07	+0.04	1,206
Tunisia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.04	+0.13	1,696
Turkey	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.16	+0.21	6,427
Ukraine	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.03	+0.06	4,550
United Kingdom	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.17	+0.14	+0.20	6,116
United States	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.37	+0.34	+0.40	5,823
Uruguay	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,600
Uzbekistan	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.09	+0.07	615
Venezuela	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.03	+0.08	1,190
Vietnam	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.08	+0.18	1,381
Zambia	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.03	+0.10	945
Zimbabwe	moral	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.07	+0.02	2,626
Albania	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.09	+0.18	2,209
Algeria	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.11	+0.06	536
Andorra	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.22	+0.17	+0.26	1,813
Argentina	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.22	+0.18	+0.26	2,326
Armenia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	3,758
Australia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.20	+0.16	+0.23	4,456
Austria	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.09	+0.17	2,710
Azerbaijan	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	2,152
Bangladesh	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.05	+0.06	1,200
Belarus	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.04	+0.11	3,186
Belgium	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.07	+0.17	1,421
Bolivia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	1,803
Bosnia Herzegovina	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,269
Brazil	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.06	+0.12	3,673
Bulgaria	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.01	+0.09	2,670
Burkina Faso	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.09	+0.02	1,109
Canada	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.25	+0.22	+0.28	5,628
Chile	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.04	+0.15	2,085
Colombia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	5,005
Croatia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.36	+0.32	+0.40	2,354
Cyprus	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.04	+0.11	3,279
Czechia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.02	+0.05	3,856
Denmark	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	4,678
Ecuador	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.01	+0.09	2,243
Egypt	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,721
Estonia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.06	−0.10	−0.03	3,216
Ethiopia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.07	+0.16	1,914
Finland	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,897
France	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.18	+0.15	+0.22	3,845
Georgia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.02	+0.08	4,283
Germany	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.14	+0.11	+0.16	8,654
Ghana	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.02	+0.07	2,330
Greece	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.29	+0.25	+0.33	2,118
Guatemala	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	0.00	+0.11	1,211
Haiti	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.03	+0.05	1,929
Hong Kong SAR	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.02	+0.09	3,801
Hungary	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.15	+0.12	+0.19	3,432
Iceland	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.08	+0.17	2,299
India	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.10	+0.15	5,785
Indonesia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.03	+0.10	4,082
Iraq	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.01	+0.13	978
Ireland	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.22	+0.14	+0.29	682
Italy	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.16	+0.23	3,515
Japan	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.10	+0.16	3,386
Kazakhstan	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.06	+0.16	1,500
Kenya	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.10	+0.02	1,160
Kosovo	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.06	−0.13	+0.02	650
Kyrgyzstan	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.18	+0.13	+0.23	1,458
Latvia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	2,033
Lebanon	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.04	+0.17	834
Libya	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.02	+0.08	2,594
Lithuania	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.07	+0.16	1,812
Luxembourg	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.27	+0.21	+0.33	1,261
Macau SAR	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	−0.01	+0.12	996
Malaysia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.15	+0.11	+0.18	2,613
Maldives	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.03	+0.15	1,023
Mali	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.04	+0.07	1,140
Malta	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	−0.01	+0.15	770
Mexico	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.07	+0.13	4,781
Moldova	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.05	0.00	+0.10	1,657
Mongolia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.20	+0.15	+0.25	1,611
Montenegro	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.15	+0.09	+0.21	1,218
Morocco	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	−0.01	+0.08	1,914
Netherlands	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.10	+0.15	7,785
New Zealand	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.13	+0.08	+0.18	1,361
Nicaragua	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.05	+0.08	871
Nigeria	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	2,929
North Macedonia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.04	+0.14	1,729
Norway	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	3,144
Pakistan	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.17	+0.11	+0.22	1,200
Palestine	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.02	+0.16	728
Peru	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.08	+0.04	+0.11	3,339
Philippines	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.03	+0.12	2,388
Poland	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	3,703
Portugal	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.15	+0.09	+0.20	1,954
Puerto Rico	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.03	+0.09	1,042
Romania	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.01	−0.02	+0.04	4,728
Russia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.07	+0.14	4,411
Rwanda	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,554
Serbia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.08	+0.04	+0.12	3,715
Singapore	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.06	+0.15	1,740
Slovakia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.01	−0.05	+0.03	3,257
Slovenia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.33	+0.30	+0.36	3,098
South Africa	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.07	+0.04	+0.11	5,568
South Korea	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.06	+0.02	+0.10	3,631
Spain	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.36	+0.33	+0.39	4,244
Sweden	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.03	−0.01	+0.06	4,155
Switzerland	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.07	+0.12	5,138
Taiwan ROC	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.02	+0.05	3,561
Tajikistan	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.27	+0.22	+0.32	1,200
Thailand	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.02	+0.05	3,656
Trinidad and Tobago	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,210
Tunisia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.11	+0.07	+0.16	1,681
Turkey	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.21	+0.19	+0.24	6,438
Ukraine	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.10	+0.06	+0.15	4,601
United Kingdom	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.12	+0.09	+0.15	6,155
United States	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	5,858
Uruguay	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.20	+0.16	+0.24	2,586
Uzbekistan	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.19	+0.11	+0.27	615
Venezuela	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.09	+0.02	1,190
Vietnam	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	+0.09	+0.03	+0.14	1,373
Zambia	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.02	−0.08	+0.04	946
Zimbabwe	religious	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	−0.04	−0.09	0.00	2,627

Economic attitudes lead clearly in the United States, Australia and the Nordic countries, and religion in Spain, Turkey, Russia, Mexico and India. A lead is clear when the lower end of the leading interval lies above the point estimate of every other axis, and a country without a clear lead is shaded grey. The other views show the largest loading whether or not the lead is clear, the status of the lead and each loading with its interval. A loading is the weighted correlation of left-right with the economic index, the moral index or the importance of God.Note: Northern Ireland shares the United Kingdom outline and is left off the map, but it is counted in the totals (its largest loading is on the economic axis and the lead is not clear). Jordan, Northern Cyprus and Yemen have too few effective respondents for a stable estimate and draw as no data.Note: The classification uses point estimates and compares axes measured with different numbers of items, so a lead compares loadings of unequal reliability.Note: In the loading views, loadings beyond the ends of the scale draw in the end class, and the key says so.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017 within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more

Economic attitudes are the clear leader in the United States, Australia, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Religion is the clear leader in Spain, Turkey, Russia, Mexico and India, and moral attitudes in South Korea. Canada, Portugal, Greece, Brazil, Poland and Japan each have a leader that is not clear. Earlier work on Western Europe found that the label tracked both religious-secular values and economic left-right values [3], and the economic and religious loading views of the map show how the two compare in each country.

The moral and religious loadings resemble each other. Inside a country, the moral index and the importance of God have a median correlation of +0.21, and across countries the two loadings correlate at +0.72 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.80), so a country with a high loading on one usually has a high loading on the other. The economic index is a separate matter: its median correlation with the moral index inside a country is −0.01. A cross-national study of survey data from many nations likewise found that economically and culturally right-wing attitudes seldom line up as one right-left dimension [4].

Countries with different patterns

Figure 2 shows the three loadings and their intervals for Sweden, Czechia, the United States, Poland, Spain and India. In Sweden the economic loading is +0.59 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.61), while the religious loading is +0.03 (95% CI −0.01 to 0.06), an interval that includes zero. Czechia has the same pattern, with an economic loading of +0.37 (95% CI 0.35 to 0.40), and it adds a reversal: the moral loading is −0.11 (95% CI −0.14 to −0.07), so people who take the conservative side on homosexuality, abortion and divorce place themselves further left on average than other Czechs do.

Figure 2

Left-right follows economic attitudes in Sweden and Czechia, and religion and moral attitudes in Poland and Spain

Weighted correlation between left-right self-placement (1 to 10, 10 = right) and the axis, within country; 95% intervals; six countries; fieldwork 2005-2023

Economic
Moral
Religious

Sweden

Czechia

United States

Poland

Spain

India

Loading: correlation of left-right with the axis

Show data

Data for Left-right follows economic attitudes in Sweden and Czechia, and religion and moral attitudes in Poland and Spain
axis	conf_high	conf_low	country	estimate	n
Economic	0.612	0.569	Sweden	0.591	4,213
Moral	0.082	0.016	Sweden	0.049	4,155
Religious	0.059	−0.007	Sweden	0.026	4,155
Economic	0.402	0.345	Czechia	0.374	3,991
Moral	−0.073	−0.139	Czechia	−0.106	3,909
Religious	0.048	−0.020	Czechia	0.014	3,856
Economic	0.437	0.385	United States	0.411	5,866
Moral	0.397	0.342	United States	0.370	5,823
Religious	0.313	0.254	United States	0.284	5,858
Economic	0.033	−0.034	Poland	0.000	3,718
Moral	0.315	0.253	Poland	0.284	3,646
Religious	0.311	0.249	Poland	0.280	3,703
Economic	0.225	0.166	Spain	0.196	4,200
Moral	0.351	0.296	Spain	0.323	4,220
Religious	0.386	0.333	Spain	0.360	4,244
Economic	0.085	0.031	India	0.058	5,436
Moral	0.030	−0.023	India	0.003	5,618
Religious	0.150	0.099	India	0.125	5,785

The largest loading is on the economic axis in Sweden and Czechia and on the moral or religious axis in Poland and Spain. Each panel is one country, dots are loadings and lines are 95% confidence intervals, and the tooltip and the data table give the values.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017 within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more

In the United States all three loadings are positive, from +0.28 for the importance of God to +0.41 for economic attitudes. In Poland the pattern runs the other way: the moral loading is +0.28 and the religious loading is +0.28, while the economic loading is 0.00 (95% CI −0.03 to 0.03), an interval that includes zero. Spain has moral and religious loadings of +0.32 and +0.36 and a lower economic one. In India all three loadings are small, from 0.00 to +0.12.

Poland and Czechia are both post-communist and differ from each other, so the region is not uniform on this scale. One account holds that economic left and right meant something different in post-communist party systems, where left-wing governments were the ones to cut spending [5]. A comparison of European countries found that basic personal values explained left-right orientation poorly in post-communist countries [6]. This chapter tests neither account, and Chapter 8.1, Basic values and left-right takes up the values.

Most loadings are small and above zero

Figure 3 counts the countries by where the interval of each loading falls. An attitude is tied to left-right in a country when the 95% interval of its loading lies above zero. The importance of God is tied in 75 of 104 countries, economic attitudes in 61 of 104 and moral attitudes in 57 of 103. Intervals below zero are rare. On the religious axis only Estonia has one (−0.06 (95% CI −0.10 to −0.03)), and the economic axis has 7 such countries and the moral axis 11.

Figure 3

Each loading has an interval above zero in most countries and below zero in a few

Countries by the position of the 95% interval of the left-right loading relative to zero, by axis, fieldwork 2005-2023

Interval above zero
Interval includes zero
Interval below zero

Show data

Data for Each loading has an interval above zero in most countries and below zero in a few
axis	n_countries	relation
Economic	61	Interval above zero
Economic	36	Interval includes zero
Economic	7	Interval below zero
Moral	57	Interval above zero
Moral	35	Interval includes zero
Moral	11	Interval below zero
Religious	75	Interval above zero
Religious	28	Interval includes zero
Religious	1	Interval below zero

The religious loading has an interval above zero in 75 of 104 countries, against 61 of 104 for the economic loading and 57 of 103 for the moral loading, and it has the fewest countries with an interval below zero. Bars split the countries with a usable estimate into those whose interval lies above zero, includes zero and lies below zero. Egypt has no respondent with a left-right answer and two of the three moral answers, so the moral axis has one country fewer.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017 within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more

In Mongolia the economic loading is −0.16 (95% CI −0.20 to −0.10), so people who give market-oriented answers place themselves further left on average than others do. Most loadings are small (Figure 4). The median is +0.09 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.11) for religion, +0.07 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.10) for economic attitudes and +0.07 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.11) for moral attitudes, and 14 countries have an economic loading above +0.30, against 3 for the moral axis and 3 for religion. The axes rest on different numbers of items, so those counts compare measures as well as attitudes. The economic loading is largest in Sweden, at +0.59 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.61), and Iceland, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway and Finland follow with intervals that overlap one another.

Figure 4

Most country loadings are small and positive, and the largest are economic

Weighted correlation between left-right self-placement (1 to 10, 10 = right) and the axis, within country; 95% intervals; fieldwork 2005-2023

The economic loadings reach furthest to the right

One dot per country in each row; the vertical mark in each row is the median across countries

Interval includes zero
Interval above zero
Interval below zero

Each row is an axis and each dot is a country, colored by whether its 95% interval lies above zero, includes zero or lies below zero. The dashed line is zero.

Show data

Data for Most country loadings are small and positive, and the largest are economic, All three axes
Country	Axis	Loading	Interval low	Interval high	Respondents	Interval relative to zero	Region
Albania	Economic	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	2,211	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Algeria	Economic	−0.08	−0.16	+0.01	532	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Andorra	Economic	+0.22	+0.17	+0.26	1,822	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Argentina	Economic	+0.18	+0.14	+0.23	2,293	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Armenia	Economic	+0.05	+0.02	+0.09	3,788	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Australia	Economic	+0.33	+0.30	+0.36	4,426	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Austria	Economic	+0.21	+0.17	+0.25	2,705	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Azerbaijan	Economic	−0.06	−0.10	−0.01	2,158	Interval below zero	Europe & Central Asia
Bangladesh	Economic	−0.01	−0.06	+0.05	1,200	Interval includes zero	South Asia
Belarus	Economic	+0.02	−0.02	+0.05	3,213	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Belgium	Economic	+0.25	+0.20	+0.30	1,414	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Bolivia	Economic	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	1,778	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Bosnia Herzegovina	Economic	−0.03	−0.07	+0.02	2,298	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Brazil	Economic	+0.07	+0.04	+0.10	3,642	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Bulgaria	Economic	+0.25	+0.21	+0.29	2,773	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Burkina Faso	Economic	−0.02	−0.08	+0.04	1,058	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Canada	Economic	+0.29	+0.26	+0.32	5,629	Interval above zero	North America
Chile	Economic	+0.26	+0.21	+0.31	2,103	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Colombia	Economic	+0.04	+0.01	+0.07	5,016	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Croatia	Economic	+0.02	−0.03	+0.07	2,352	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Cyprus	Economic	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	3,266	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Czechia	Economic	+0.37	+0.35	+0.40	3,991	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Denmark	Economic	+0.46	+0.43	+0.49	4,679	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ecuador	Economic	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,238	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Egypt	Economic	+0.18	+0.15	+0.22	4,238	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Estonia	Economic	+0.26	+0.23	+0.29	3,302	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ethiopia	Economic	+0.23	+0.19	+0.28	1,917	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Finland	Economic	+0.44	+0.40	+0.47	2,932	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
France	Economic	+0.34	+0.31	+0.37	3,827	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Georgia	Economic	+0.03	0.00	+0.07	4,227	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Germany	Economic	+0.19	+0.17	+0.22	8,683	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ghana	Economic	+0.25	+0.21	+0.30	2,333	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Greece	Economic	+0.19	+0.15	+0.24	2,184	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Guatemala	Economic	+0.04	−0.01	+0.10	1,213	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Haiti	Economic	−0.03	−0.07	+0.02	1,944	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Hong Kong SAR	Economic	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	3,946	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Hungary	Economic	0.00	−0.04	+0.03	3,447	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Iceland	Economic	+0.50	+0.46	+0.53	2,307	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
India	Economic	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	5,436	Interval above zero	South Asia
Indonesia	Economic	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	4,061	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Iraq	Economic	+0.01	−0.06	+0.07	975	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Ireland	Economic	+0.07	−0.01	+0.15	687	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Italy	Economic	+0.24	+0.21	+0.27	3,509	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Japan	Economic	+0.10	+0.07	+0.14	3,446	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Kazakhstan	Economic	+0.10	+0.05	+0.15	1,500	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Kenya	Economic	−0.10	−0.15	−0.04	1,161	Interval below zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Kosovo	Economic	+0.03	−0.05	+0.11	654	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan	Economic	+0.11	+0.06	+0.16	1,461	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Latvia	Economic	+0.07	+0.02	+0.11	2,056	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Lebanon	Economic	−0.03	−0.10	+0.04	834	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Libya	Economic	−0.01	−0.06	+0.04	2,447	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Lithuania	Economic	+0.10	+0.05	+0.15	1,871	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Luxembourg	Economic	+0.16	+0.10	+0.22	1,257	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Macau SAR	Economic	−0.01	−0.07	+0.05	995	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Malaysia	Economic	−0.03	−0.07	+0.01	2,613	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Maldives	Economic	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,023	Interval includes zero	South Asia
Mali	Economic	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,147	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Malta	Economic	+0.26	+0.19	+0.33	750	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Mexico	Economic	+0.02	−0.01	+0.04	4,752	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Moldova	Economic	+0.10	+0.05	+0.15	1,651	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Mongolia	Economic	−0.16	−0.20	−0.10	1,613	Interval below zero	East Asia & Pacific
Montenegro	Economic	−0.04	−0.10	+0.02	1,250	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Morocco	Economic	+0.09	+0.05	+0.14	1,909	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Netherlands	Economic	+0.39	+0.37	+0.41	7,741	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
New Zealand	Economic	+0.46	+0.42	+0.50	1,372	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Nicaragua	Economic	−0.07	−0.13	0.00	871	Interval below zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Nigeria	Economic	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,927	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
North Macedonia	Economic	+0.02	−0.03	+0.07	1,759	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Northern Ireland	Economic	+0.30	+0.22	+0.38	760	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Norway	Economic	+0.45	+0.42	+0.48	3,148	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Pakistan	Economic	+0.15	+0.09	+0.20	1,200	Interval above zero	South Asia
Palestine	Economic	−0.03	−0.10	+0.05	727	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Peru	Economic	+0.07	+0.03	+0.10	3,280	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Philippines	Economic	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	2,389	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Poland	Economic	0.00	−0.03	+0.03	3,718	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Portugal	Economic	+0.12	+0.06	+0.17	1,895	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Puerto Rico	Economic	+0.11	+0.05	+0.17	1,047	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Romania	Economic	+0.11	+0.08	+0.14	4,705	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Russia	Economic	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	4,564	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Rwanda	Economic	+0.11	+0.07	+0.15	2,552	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Serbia	Economic	+0.01	−0.03	+0.04	3,746	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Singapore	Economic	−0.04	−0.09	0.00	1,743	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Slovakia	Economic	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	3,336	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Slovenia	Economic	−0.03	−0.07	0.00	3,138	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
South Africa	Economic	+0.05	+0.01	+0.08	5,541	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
South Korea	Economic	+0.02	−0.02	+0.07	3,637	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Spain	Economic	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	4,200	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Sweden	Economic	+0.59	+0.57	+0.61	4,213	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Switzerland	Economic	+0.34	+0.32	+0.37	5,154	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Taiwan ROC	Economic	−0.09	−0.13	−0.06	3,554	Interval below zero	Not classified
Tajikistan	Economic	+0.11	+0.05	+0.17	1,200	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Thailand	Economic	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	3,758	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Trinidad and Tobago	Economic	+0.04	−0.01	+0.10	1,211	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Tunisia	Economic	−0.03	−0.08	+0.02	1,682	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Turkey	Economic	+0.08	+0.05	+0.10	6,325	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ukraine	Economic	+0.08	+0.03	+0.12	4,667	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
United Kingdom	Economic	+0.36	+0.34	+0.39	6,124	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
United States	Economic	+0.41	+0.38	+0.44	5,866	Interval above zero	North America
Uruguay	Economic	+0.21	+0.17	+0.25	2,571	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Uzbekistan	Economic	−0.13	−0.21	−0.05	591	Interval below zero	Europe & Central Asia
Venezuela	Economic	+0.24	+0.19	+0.30	1,190	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Vietnam	Economic	+0.10	+0.05	+0.16	1,376	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Zambia	Economic	+0.08	+0.01	+0.14	948	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Zimbabwe	Economic	−0.08	−0.13	−0.04	2,627	Interval below zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Albania	Moral	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	2,220	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Algeria	Moral	−0.09	−0.17	0.00	521	Interval below zero	Middle East & North Africa
Andorra	Moral	+0.21	+0.16	+0.25	1,821	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Argentina	Moral	+0.16	+0.12	+0.21	2,240	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Armenia	Moral	+0.03	−0.01	+0.06	3,780	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Australia	Moral	+0.22	+0.18	+0.25	4,430	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Austria	Moral	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,681	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Azerbaijan	Moral	−0.03	−0.08	+0.02	2,138	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Bangladesh	Moral	+0.17	+0.11	+0.22	1,200	Interval above zero	South Asia
Belarus	Moral	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	3,202	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Belgium	Moral	+0.08	+0.02	+0.13	1,419	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Bolivia	Moral	0.00	−0.05	+0.05	1,780	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Bosnia Herzegovina	Moral	+0.13	+0.08	+0.17	2,285	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Brazil	Moral	+0.09	+0.06	+0.12	3,624	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Bulgaria	Moral	−0.08	−0.12	−0.04	2,709	Interval below zero	Europe & Central Asia
Burkina Faso	Moral	−0.09	−0.15	−0.03	1,084	Interval below zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Canada	Moral	+0.29	+0.26	+0.32	5,604	Interval above zero	North America
Chile	Moral	+0.14	+0.08	+0.19	2,077	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Colombia	Moral	+0.14	+0.11	+0.16	5,015	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Croatia	Moral	+0.33	+0.29	+0.37	2,358	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Cyprus	Moral	+0.09	+0.05	+0.13	3,262	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Czechia	Moral	−0.11	−0.14	−0.07	3,909	Interval below zero	Europe & Central Asia
Denmark	Moral	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	4,701	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ecuador	Moral	−0.04	−0.08	0.00	2,235	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Estonia	Moral	−0.03	−0.07	+0.01	3,240	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ethiopia	Moral	−0.11	−0.15	−0.06	1,902	Interval below zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Finland	Moral	+0.16	+0.12	+0.20	2,910	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
France	Moral	+0.19	+0.15	+0.22	3,818	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Georgia	Moral	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	4,271	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Germany	Moral	+0.16	+0.13	+0.18	8,668	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ghana	Moral	−0.08	−0.13	−0.04	2,324	Interval below zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Greece	Moral	+0.29	+0.25	+0.33	2,188	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Guatemala	Moral	+0.06	+0.01	+0.12	1,213	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Haiti	Moral	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	1,932	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Hong Kong SAR	Moral	−0.06	−0.09	−0.02	3,955	Interval below zero	East Asia & Pacific
Hungary	Moral	+0.09	+0.06	+0.12	3,448	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Iceland	Moral	+0.16	+0.11	+0.20	2,306	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
India	Moral	0.00	−0.02	+0.03	5,618	Interval includes zero	South Asia
Indonesia	Moral	−0.02	−0.06	+0.02	4,086	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Iraq	Moral	+0.13	+0.07	+0.19	968	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Ireland	Moral	+0.22	+0.14	+0.30	665	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Italy	Moral	+0.17	+0.14	+0.21	3,452	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Japan	Moral	+0.14	+0.11	+0.17	3,354	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Kazakhstan	Moral	+0.04	−0.01	+0.09	1,500	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Kenya	Moral	+0.10	+0.05	+0.16	1,127	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Kosovo	Moral	−0.02	−0.10	+0.06	655	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan	Moral	+0.18	+0.13	+0.23	1,459	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Latvia	Moral	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	2,028	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Lebanon	Moral	0.00	−0.07	+0.07	837	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Libya	Moral	0.00	−0.05	+0.04	2,514	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Lithuania	Moral	+0.04	−0.01	+0.08	1,829	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Luxembourg	Moral	+0.23	+0.17	+0.29	1,254	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Macau SAR	Moral	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	997	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Malaysia	Moral	+0.09	+0.05	+0.12	2,613	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Maldives	Moral	+0.17	+0.11	+0.23	1,023	Interval above zero	South Asia
Mali	Moral	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,081	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Malta	Moral	+0.16	+0.09	+0.24	751	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Mexico	Moral	+0.06	+0.03	+0.08	4,734	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Moldova	Moral	−0.02	−0.07	+0.03	1,638	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Mongolia	Moral	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	1,613	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Montenegro	Moral	+0.09	+0.03	+0.15	1,250	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Morocco	Moral	+0.03	−0.01	+0.08	1,904	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Netherlands	Moral	+0.16	+0.13	+0.18	7,801	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
New Zealand	Moral	+0.19	+0.14	+0.24	1,352	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Nicaragua	Moral	−0.06	−0.12	+0.01	871	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Nigeria	Moral	0.00	−0.04	+0.05	2,928	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
North Macedonia	Moral	+0.07	+0.02	+0.12	1,763	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Northern Ireland	Moral	+0.25	+0.17	+0.33	749	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Norway	Moral	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	3,142	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Pakistan	Moral	+0.15	+0.09	+0.21	1,200	Interval above zero	South Asia
Palestine	Moral	+0.09	+0.02	+0.16	725	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Peru	Moral	−0.02	−0.06	+0.02	2,183	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Philippines	Moral	0.00	−0.04	+0.05	2,389	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Poland	Moral	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	3,646	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Portugal	Moral	+0.04	−0.01	+0.10	1,915	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Puerto Rico	Moral	+0.11	+0.05	+0.17	1,049	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Romania	Moral	−0.06	−0.09	−0.03	4,615	Interval below zero	Europe & Central Asia
Russia	Moral	−0.01	−0.04	+0.03	4,507	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Rwanda	Moral	0.00	−0.04	+0.03	2,554	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Serbia	Moral	+0.07	+0.03	+0.11	3,654	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Singapore	Moral	+0.18	+0.13	+0.22	1,737	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Slovakia	Moral	−0.04	−0.08	0.00	3,260	Interval below zero	Europe & Central Asia
Slovenia	Moral	+0.30	+0.26	+0.33	3,127	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
South Africa	Moral	−0.07	−0.10	−0.03	5,512	Interval below zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
South Korea	Moral	+0.20	+0.16	+0.24	3,637	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Spain	Moral	+0.32	+0.30	+0.35	4,220	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Sweden	Moral	+0.05	+0.02	+0.08	4,155	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Switzerland	Moral	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	5,159	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Taiwan ROC	Moral	+0.12	+0.08	+0.15	3,536	Interval above zero	Not classified
Tajikistan	Moral	−0.03	−0.09	+0.03	1,200	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Thailand	Moral	−0.04	−0.07	−0.01	3,751	Interval below zero	East Asia & Pacific
Trinidad and Tobago	Moral	−0.02	−0.07	+0.04	1,206	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Tunisia	Moral	+0.09	+0.04	+0.13	1,696	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Turkey	Moral	+0.19	+0.16	+0.21	6,427	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ukraine	Moral	+0.01	−0.03	+0.06	4,550	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
United Kingdom	Moral	+0.17	+0.14	+0.20	6,116	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
United States	Moral	+0.37	+0.34	+0.40	5,823	Interval above zero	North America
Uruguay	Moral	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,600	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Uzbekistan	Moral	−0.01	−0.09	+0.07	615	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Venezuela	Moral	+0.02	−0.03	+0.08	1,190	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Vietnam	Moral	+0.13	+0.08	+0.18	1,381	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Zambia	Moral	+0.03	−0.03	+0.10	945	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Zimbabwe	Moral	−0.02	−0.07	+0.02	2,626	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Albania	Religious	+0.13	+0.09	+0.18	2,209	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Algeria	Religious	−0.02	−0.11	+0.06	536	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Andorra	Religious	+0.22	+0.17	+0.26	1,813	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Argentina	Religious	+0.22	+0.18	+0.26	2,326	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Armenia	Religious	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	3,758	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Australia	Religious	+0.20	+0.16	+0.23	4,456	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Austria	Religious	+0.13	+0.09	+0.17	2,710	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Azerbaijan	Religious	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	2,152	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Bangladesh	Religious	+0.01	−0.05	+0.06	1,200	Interval includes zero	South Asia
Belarus	Religious	+0.07	+0.04	+0.11	3,186	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Belgium	Religious	+0.12	+0.07	+0.17	1,421	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Bolivia	Religious	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	1,803	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Bosnia Herzegovina	Religious	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,269	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Brazil	Religious	+0.09	+0.06	+0.12	3,673	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Bulgaria	Religious	+0.05	+0.01	+0.09	2,670	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Burkina Faso	Religious	−0.04	−0.09	+0.02	1,109	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Canada	Religious	+0.25	+0.22	+0.28	5,628	Interval above zero	North America
Chile	Religious	+0.09	+0.04	+0.15	2,085	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Colombia	Religious	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	5,005	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Croatia	Religious	+0.36	+0.32	+0.40	2,354	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Cyprus	Religious	+0.07	+0.04	+0.11	3,279	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Czechia	Religious	+0.01	−0.02	+0.05	3,856	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Denmark	Religious	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	4,678	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ecuador	Religious	+0.05	+0.01	+0.09	2,243	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Egypt	Religious	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,721	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Estonia	Religious	−0.06	−0.10	−0.03	3,216	Interval below zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ethiopia	Religious	+0.11	+0.07	+0.16	1,914	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Finland	Religious	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,897	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
France	Religious	+0.18	+0.15	+0.22	3,845	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Georgia	Religious	+0.05	+0.02	+0.08	4,283	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Germany	Religious	+0.14	+0.11	+0.16	8,654	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ghana	Religious	+0.03	−0.02	+0.07	2,330	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Greece	Religious	+0.29	+0.25	+0.33	2,118	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Guatemala	Religious	+0.06	0.00	+0.11	1,211	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Haiti	Religious	+0.01	−0.03	+0.05	1,929	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Hong Kong SAR	Religious	+0.06	+0.02	+0.09	3,801	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Hungary	Religious	+0.15	+0.12	+0.19	3,432	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Iceland	Religious	+0.13	+0.08	+0.17	2,299	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
India	Religious	+0.12	+0.10	+0.15	5,785	Interval above zero	South Asia
Indonesia	Religious	+0.07	+0.03	+0.10	4,082	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Iraq	Religious	+0.07	+0.01	+0.13	978	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Ireland	Religious	+0.22	+0.14	+0.29	682	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Italy	Religious	+0.19	+0.16	+0.23	3,515	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Japan	Religious	+0.13	+0.10	+0.16	3,386	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Kazakhstan	Religious	+0.11	+0.06	+0.16	1,500	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Kenya	Religious	−0.04	−0.10	+0.02	1,160	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Kosovo	Religious	−0.06	−0.13	+0.02	650	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan	Religious	+0.18	+0.13	+0.23	1,458	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Latvia	Religious	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	2,033	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Lebanon	Religious	+0.11	+0.04	+0.17	834	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Libya	Religious	+0.03	−0.02	+0.08	2,594	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Lithuania	Religious	+0.12	+0.07	+0.16	1,812	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Luxembourg	Religious	+0.27	+0.21	+0.33	1,261	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Macau SAR	Religious	+0.06	−0.01	+0.12	996	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Malaysia	Religious	+0.15	+0.11	+0.18	2,613	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Maldives	Religious	+0.09	+0.03	+0.15	1,023	Interval above zero	South Asia
Mali	Religious	+0.01	−0.04	+0.07	1,140	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Malta	Religious	+0.07	−0.01	+0.15	770	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Mexico	Religious	+0.10	+0.07	+0.13	4,781	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Moldova	Religious	+0.05	0.00	+0.10	1,657	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Mongolia	Religious	+0.20	+0.15	+0.25	1,611	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Montenegro	Religious	+0.15	+0.09	+0.21	1,218	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Morocco	Religious	+0.04	−0.01	+0.08	1,914	Interval includes zero	Middle East & North Africa
Netherlands	Religious	+0.13	+0.10	+0.15	7,785	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
New Zealand	Religious	+0.13	+0.08	+0.18	1,361	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Nicaragua	Religious	+0.02	−0.05	+0.08	871	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Nigeria	Religious	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	2,929	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
North Macedonia	Religious	+0.09	+0.04	+0.14	1,729	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Northern Ireland	Religious	+0.16	+0.08	+0.24	763	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Norway	Religious	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	3,144	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Pakistan	Religious	+0.17	+0.11	+0.22	1,200	Interval above zero	South Asia
Palestine	Religious	+0.09	+0.02	+0.16	728	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Peru	Religious	+0.08	+0.04	+0.11	3,339	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Philippines	Religious	+0.07	+0.03	+0.12	2,388	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Poland	Religious	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	3,703	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Portugal	Religious	+0.15	+0.09	+0.20	1,954	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Puerto Rico	Religious	+0.03	−0.03	+0.09	1,042	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Romania	Religious	+0.01	−0.02	+0.04	4,728	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Russia	Religious	+0.11	+0.07	+0.14	4,411	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Rwanda	Religious	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,554	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Serbia	Religious	+0.08	+0.04	+0.12	3,715	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Singapore	Religious	+0.11	+0.06	+0.15	1,740	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Slovakia	Religious	−0.01	−0.05	+0.03	3,257	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Slovenia	Religious	+0.33	+0.30	+0.36	3,098	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
South Africa	Religious	+0.07	+0.04	+0.11	5,568	Interval above zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
South Korea	Religious	+0.06	+0.02	+0.10	3,631	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Spain	Religious	+0.36	+0.33	+0.39	4,244	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Sweden	Religious	+0.03	−0.01	+0.06	4,155	Interval includes zero	Europe & Central Asia
Switzerland	Religious	+0.09	+0.07	+0.12	5,138	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Taiwan ROC	Religious	+0.02	−0.02	+0.05	3,561	Interval includes zero	Not classified
Tajikistan	Religious	+0.27	+0.22	+0.32	1,200	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Thailand	Religious	+0.02	−0.02	+0.05	3,656	Interval includes zero	East Asia & Pacific
Trinidad and Tobago	Religious	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,210	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Tunisia	Religious	+0.11	+0.07	+0.16	1,681	Interval above zero	Middle East & North Africa
Turkey	Religious	+0.21	+0.19	+0.24	6,438	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Ukraine	Religious	+0.10	+0.06	+0.15	4,601	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
United Kingdom	Religious	+0.12	+0.09	+0.15	6,155	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
United States	Religious	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	5,858	Interval above zero	North America
Uruguay	Religious	+0.20	+0.16	+0.24	2,586	Interval above zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Uzbekistan	Religious	+0.19	+0.11	+0.27	615	Interval above zero	Europe & Central Asia
Venezuela	Religious	−0.04	−0.09	+0.02	1,190	Interval includes zero	Latin America & Caribbean
Vietnam	Religious	+0.09	+0.03	+0.14	1,373	Interval above zero	East Asia & Pacific
Zambia	Religious	−0.02	−0.08	+0.04	946	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa
Zimbabwe	Religious	−0.04	−0.09	0.00	2,627	Interval includes zero	Sub-Saharan Africa

The three rows have similar medians, and the economic row has the longest right-hand tail. The other tabs list every country with its interval, largest loading first. The three axes rest on different numbers of items, so their sizes are not directly comparable.Note: Intervals treat the weighted sample as a simple random sample and ignore clustering and stratification in the sample design, which can raise or lower the variance.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017 within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more

The economic loading depends on the items

The four economic items agree only weakly: the median across countries of their average pairwise correlation is +0.06, against +0.48 for the three moral items. The choice of items therefore matters, and Figure 6 shows by how much: the median economic loading runs from +0.02 to +0.12 across definitions, and the four-item index used here has +0.07 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.10).

The economic axis has no single agreed measure. This chapter averages the four economic items on the ten-point agreement format in the WVS and EVS, listed in Figure 5. Which end of each question counts as economic right is fixed by the wording of the answer scale, not by how the item correlates with left-right.

Figure 5

The right-wing end of every item is fixed in advance from the wording of its answer scale

Items used for the economic, moral and religious axes in the World Values Survey and EVS, with the answer that counts as right

Axis	Item	Answer that counts as right
Economic	Income differences (E035)	We need larger income differences as incentives
Economic	Government responsibility (E037)	People should take more responsibility
Economic	State ownership of business (E036)	Private ownership of business should be increased
Economic	Competition (E039)	Competition is good
Moral	Homosexuality (F118)	Never justifiable
Moral	Abortion (F120)	Never justifiable
Moral	Divorce (F121)	Never justifiable
Religious	Importance of God (F063)	Very important

Show data

Data for The right-wing end of every item is fixed in advance from the wording of its answer scale
Axis	Item	Survey code	Low end of the scale	High end of the scale	Right-wing pole	Answer that counts as right
Economic	Income differences (E035)	E035	Incomes should be made more equal	We need larger income differences as incentives	High end	We need larger income differences as incentives
Economic	Government responsibility (E037)	E037	People should take more responsibility	The government should take more responsibility	Low end	People should take more responsibility
Economic	State ownership of business (E036)	E036	Private ownership of business should be increased	Government ownership of business should be increased	Low end	Private ownership of business should be increased
Economic	Competition (E039)	E039	Competition is good	Competition is harmful	Low end	Competition is good
Moral	Homosexuality (F118)	F118	Never justifiable	Always justifiable	Low end	Never justifiable
Moral	Abortion (F120)	F120	Never justifiable	Always justifiable	Low end	Never justifiable
Moral	Divorce (F121)	F121	Never justifiable	Always justifiable	Low end	Never justifiable
Religious	Importance of God (F063)	F063	Not at all important	Very important	High end	Very important

Government responsibility, state ownership, competition and all three moral items count the low end of the scale as the right-wing answer, and income differences and the importance of God count the high end. The economic index averages the four economic items, the moral index averages the three moral items and the religious axis is the importance of God alone. The direction comes from the scale labels in the survey dictionary, not from the correlation with left-right.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study cleaned dictionary, fieldwork 2005-2023; item wording and coding, no estimates or weights

Two narrower definitions are possible: the items on income differences and government responsibility, and the items on government responsibility, state ownership and competition. The two definitions share the government responsibility item, which raises the correlation between their loadings across countries to +0.80 (95% CI 0.72 to 0.86). Items with nothing in common agree less across countries: the loadings on income differences and on state ownership correlate at +0.53 (95% CI 0.37 to 0.65), and those on income differences and competition at +0.58 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.69). The definitions therefore order the countries partly alike and disagree about the level. Figure 6 traces the disagreement to the items: the definitions that include income differences sit to the right of those built from state ownership or competition.

Figure 6

The median economic loading runs from +0.02 to +0.12 depending on the items

Median across countries of the loading of left-right on each definition of the economic axis, the moral index and the importance of God, with 95% intervals from resampling the countries

Economic
Moral
Religious

Show data

Data for The median economic loading runs from +0.02 to +0.12 depending on the items
Definition	Axis	Median loading	Interval low	Interval high	Countries	Interval above zero	Interval includes zero	Interval below zero	Correlation with the chapter index
Four-item index (used in this chapter)	Economic	+0.07	+0.04	+0.10	104	61	36	7	1.00
Two items: income differences and government responsibility	Economic	+0.12	+0.08	+0.12	104	74	29	1	0.91
Three items: government responsibility, state ownership, competition	Economic	+0.03	−0.01	+0.07	104	47	39	18	0.97
Income differences alone	Economic	+0.09	+0.08	+0.11	104	72	30	2	0.84
Government responsibility alone	Economic	+0.07	+0.04	+0.09	104	62	36	6	0.86
State ownership of business alone	Economic	+0.02	−0.01	+0.05	104	42	36	26	0.86
Competition alone	Economic	+0.02	−0.01	+0.03	104	35	42	27	0.81
Three-item index (used in this chapter)	Moral	+0.07	+0.03	+0.11	103	57	35	11	1.00
Importance of God (used in this chapter)	Religious	+0.09	+0.07	+0.11	104	75	28	1	1.00

The economic loading depends on which items define the index. Income differences alone give a median of +0.09 and government responsibility alone +0.07, while state ownership and competition alone give +0.02 and +0.02. The two-item set includes income differences; the three-item set (+0.03) instead includes state ownership and competition. Each dot is the median of the country loadings, and the table lists how many countries have an interval above, including or below zero.Note: Each country counts once, and the intervals come from resampling countries.Note: The variant that needs all four economic items answered and the three single moral items are in the estimates but not drawn.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017 within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more

The moral items agree more closely than the economic ones, and singly, homosexuality, abortion and divorce give medians of +0.05, +0.06 and +0.05, close to the median of +0.07 for the moral index. Claims in this chapter about the economic axis therefore rest on the comparison between countries and between definitions, and less on the size of any one loading.

Loadings rise with human development

Figure 7 plots each loading against the Human Development Index (HDI) and marks the median loading in each third of countries by HDI. The economic loading has a median of +0.04 in the third of countries with the lowest HDI, +0.05 in the middle third and +0.26 in the highest third. The moral loading runs from 0.00 to +0.04 to +0.18, and the religious loading from +0.06 to +0.10 to +0.13. The economic and moral loadings therefore rise mostly in the top third, while the religious loading rises across all three. The correlation between HDI and the loading across countries is positive on all three axes and the three intervals overlap, and the caption of the figure gives the values.The HDI is a single value per country from the context file joined to the survey. The file does not record the year, and 4 countries with loadings (Kosovo, Macau, Puerto Rico and Taiwan) have no value.

Figure 7

Loadings on all three axes are higher in countries with higher human development

Country loading of left-right self-placement (correlation) against the Human Development Index, countries with both, fieldwork 2005-2023

Show data

Data for Loadings on all three axes are higher in countries with higher human development
axis	conf_high	conf_low	country	estimate	hdi	n	region
economic	0.059	−0.036	Albania	0.012	0.785	2,211	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.006	−0.163	Algeria	−0.079	0.754	532	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.261	0.169	Andorra	0.215	0.858	1,822	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.228	0.140	Argentina	0.185	0.825	2,293	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.091	0.017	Armenia	0.054	0.755	3,788	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.363	0.299	Australia	0.332	0.939	4,426	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.251	0.173	Austria	0.212	0.908	2,705	Europe & Central Asia
economic	−0.009	−0.102	Azerbaijan	−0.056	0.757	2,158	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.049	−0.065	Bangladesh	−0.008	0.608	1,200	South Asia
economic	0.051	−0.020	Belarus	0.015	0.808	3,213	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.300	0.198	Belgium	0.250	0.916	1,414	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.091	−0.002	Bolivia	0.045	0.693	1,778	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.019	−0.069	Bosnia Herzegovina	−0.025	0.768	2,298	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.104	0.039	Brazil	0.071	0.759	3,642	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.287	0.210	Bulgaria	0.249	0.813	2,773	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.043	−0.078	Burkina Faso	−0.017	0.423	1,058	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.319	0.260	Canada	0.290	0.926	5,629	North America
economic	0.308	0.206	Chile	0.258	0.843	2,103	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.068	0.012	Colombia	0.040	0.747	5,016	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.066	−0.025	Croatia	0.021	0.831	2,352	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.036	−0.040	Cyprus	−0.002	0.869	3,266	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.402	0.345	Czechia	0.374	0.888	3,991	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.488	0.430	Denmark	0.460	0.929	4,679	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.043	−0.040	Ecuador	0.002	0.752	2,238	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.220	0.147	Egypt	0.184	0.696	4,238	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.294	0.228	Estonia	0.261	0.871	3,302	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.276	0.192	Ethiopia	0.234	0.463	1,917	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.470	0.405	Finland	0.438	0.920	2,932	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.373	0.312	France	0.343	0.901	3,827	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.067	0.002	Georgia	0.034	0.780	4,227	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.217	0.168	Germany	0.192	0.936	8,683	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.297	0.211	Ghana	0.254	0.592	2,333	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.235	0.150	Greece	0.193	0.870	2,184	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.099	−0.013	Guatemala	0.043	0.650	1,213	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.018	−0.071	Haiti	−0.027	0.498	1,944	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.018	−0.047	Hong Kong SAR	−0.014	0.933	3,946	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.030	−0.039	Hungary	−0.004	0.838	3,447	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.532	0.463	Iceland	0.499	0.935	2,307	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.085	0.031	India	0.058	0.640	5,436	South Asia
economic	0.073	−0.002	Indonesia	0.035	0.694	4,061	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.069	−0.057	Iraq	0.006	0.685	975	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.147	−0.010	Ireland	0.069	0.938	687	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.275	0.210	Italy	0.242	0.880	3,509	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.136	0.070	Japan	0.103	0.909	3,446	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.149	0.047	Kazakhstan	0.098	0.800	1,500	Europe & Central Asia
economic	−0.039	−0.153	Kenya	−0.096	0.590	1,161	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.160	0.059	Kyrgyzstan	0.110	0.672	1,461	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.114	0.025	Latvia	0.069	0.847	2,056	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.036	−0.100	Lebanon	−0.032	0.757	834	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.042	−0.059	Libya	−0.008	0.706	2,447	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.147	0.054	Lithuania	0.101	0.858	1,871	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.221	0.100	Luxembourg	0.161	0.904	1,257	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.007	−0.070	Malaysia	−0.032	0.802	2,613	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.080	−0.042	Maldives	0.019	0.717	1,023	South Asia
economic	0.075	−0.041	Mali	0.017	0.427	1,147	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.330	0.187	Malta	0.260	0.878	750	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.045	−0.012	Mexico	0.016	0.774	4,752	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.150	0.053	Moldova	0.102	0.700	1,651	Europe & Central Asia
economic	−0.104	−0.205	Mongolia	−0.155	0.741	1,613	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.017	−0.102	Montenegro	−0.043	0.814	1,250	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.139	0.050	Morocco	0.095	0.667	1,909	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.413	0.373	Netherlands	0.393	0.931	7,741	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.504	0.421	New Zealand	0.464	0.917	1,372	East Asia & Pacific
economic	−0.001	−0.134	Nicaragua	−0.068	0.658	871	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.045	−0.037	Nigeria	0.004	0.532	2,927	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.070	−0.030	North Macedonia	0.020	0.757	1,759	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.376	0.222	Northern Ireland	0.301	0.922	760	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.476	0.419	Norway	0.448	0.953	3,148	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.204	0.090	Pakistan	0.148	0.562	1,200	South Asia
economic	0.045	−0.100	Palestine	−0.027	0.686	727	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.101	0.031	Peru	0.066	0.750	3,280	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.088	0.000	Philippines	0.044	0.699	2,389	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.033	−0.034	Poland	0.000	0.865	3,718	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.173	0.064	Portugal	0.119	0.847	1,895	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.138	0.078	Romania	0.108	0.811	4,705	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.097	0.031	Russia	0.064	0.816	4,564	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.146	0.069	Rwanda	0.108	0.524	2,552	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.044	−0.031	Serbia	0.007	0.787	3,746	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.003	−0.093	Singapore	−0.045	0.932	1,743	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.163	0.087	Slovakia	0.125	0.855	3,336	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.003	−0.068	Slovenia	−0.033	0.896	3,138	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.080	0.012	South Africa	0.046	0.699	5,541	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	0.065	−0.016	South Korea	0.024	0.903	3,637	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.225	0.166	Spain	0.196	0.891	4,200	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.612	0.569	Sweden	0.591	0.933	4,213	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.368	0.318	Switzerland	0.343	0.944	5,154	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.165	0.054	Tajikistan	0.110	0.650	1,200	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.070	0.005	Thailand	0.037	0.755	3,758	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.104	−0.014	Trinidad and Tobago	0.045	0.784	1,211	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.019	−0.076	Tunisia	−0.029	0.735	1,682	Middle East & North Africa
economic	0.103	0.053	Turkey	0.078	0.791	6,325	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.119	0.033	Ukraine	0.076	0.751	4,667	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.390	0.338	United Kingdom	0.364	0.922	6,124	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.437	0.385	United States	0.411	0.924	5,866	North America
economic	0.252	0.171	Uruguay	0.212	0.804	2,571	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	−0.049	−0.207	Uzbekistan	−0.129	0.710	591	Europe & Central Asia
economic	0.297	0.191	Venezuela	0.245	0.761	1,190	Latin America & Caribbean
economic	0.155	0.051	Vietnam	0.103	0.694	1,376	East Asia & Pacific
economic	0.140	0.014	Zambia	0.077	0.588	948	Sub-Saharan Africa
economic	−0.036	−0.126	Zimbabwe	−0.081	0.535	2,627	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.065	−0.030	Albania	0.018	0.785	2,220	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.003	−0.173	Algeria	−0.089	0.754	521	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.254	0.161	Andorra	0.208	0.858	1,821	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.208	0.119	Argentina	0.164	0.825	2,240	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.063	−0.012	Armenia	0.026	0.755	3,780	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.252	0.184	Australia	0.218	0.939	4,430	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.226	0.146	Austria	0.186	0.908	2,681	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.016	−0.078	Azerbaijan	−0.031	0.757	2,138	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.223	0.113	Bangladesh	0.168	0.608	1,200	South Asia
moral	0.022	−0.048	Belarus	−0.013	0.808	3,202	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.133	0.025	Belgium	0.079	0.916	1,419	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.047	−0.046	Bolivia	0.000	0.693	1,780	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.168	0.082	Bosnia Herzegovina	0.125	0.768	2,285	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.123	0.057	Brazil	0.090	0.759	3,624	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	−0.036	−0.119	Bulgaria	−0.078	0.813	2,709	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.029	−0.147	Burkina Faso	−0.088	0.423	1,084	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.318	0.259	Canada	0.289	0.926	5,604	North America
moral	0.192	0.084	Chile	0.138	0.843	2,077	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.163	0.109	Colombia	0.136	0.747	5,015	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.374	0.293	Croatia	0.334	0.831	2,358	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.128	0.052	Cyprus	0.090	0.869	3,262	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.073	−0.139	Czechia	−0.106	0.888	3,909	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.160	0.088	Denmark	0.124	0.929	4,701	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.000	−0.082	Ecuador	−0.041	0.752	2,235	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.006	−0.065	Estonia	−0.030	0.871	3,240	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.065	−0.153	Ethiopia	−0.109	0.463	1,902	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.199	0.120	Finland	0.160	0.920	2,910	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.220	0.153	France	0.187	0.901	3,818	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.095	0.030	Georgia	0.063	0.780	4,271	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.184	0.135	Germany	0.159	0.936	8,668	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.039	−0.130	Ghana	−0.085	0.592	2,324	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.327	0.246	Greece	0.287	0.870	2,188	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.118	0.006	Guatemala	0.062	0.650	1,213	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.060	−0.029	Haiti	0.015	0.498	1,932	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	−0.023	−0.088	Hong Kong SAR	−0.056	0.933	3,955	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.124	0.056	Hungary	0.090	0.838	3,448	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.200	0.110	Iceland	0.155	0.935	2,306	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.030	−0.023	India	0.003	0.640	5,618	South Asia
moral	0.017	−0.058	Indonesia	−0.020	0.694	4,086	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.194	0.070	Iraq	0.132	0.685	968	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.295	0.143	Ireland	0.221	0.938	665	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.208	0.141	Italy	0.175	0.880	3,452	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.173	0.107	Japan	0.140	0.909	3,354	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.092	−0.011	Kazakhstan	0.041	0.800	1,500	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.161	0.045	Kenya	0.103	0.590	1,127	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.225	0.126	Kyrgyzstan	0.176	0.672	1,459	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.065	−0.025	Latvia	0.020	0.847	2,028	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.069	−0.066	Lebanon	0.002	0.757	837	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.044	−0.053	Libya	−0.005	0.706	2,514	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.085	−0.010	Lithuania	0.038	0.858	1,829	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.291	0.174	Luxembourg	0.234	0.904	1,254	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.125	0.049	Malaysia	0.087	0.802	2,613	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.226	0.107	Maldives	0.167	0.717	1,023	South Asia
moral	0.078	−0.041	Mali	0.018	0.427	1,081	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.236	0.087	Malta	0.162	0.878	751	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.084	0.027	Mexico	0.056	0.774	4,734	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.027	−0.071	Moldova	−0.022	0.700	1,638	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.061	−0.041	Mongolia	0.010	0.741	1,613	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.148	0.030	Montenegro	0.089	0.814	1,250	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.078	−0.012	Morocco	0.033	0.667	1,904	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.180	0.135	Netherlands	0.158	0.931	7,801	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.240	0.138	New Zealand	0.190	0.917	1,352	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.009	−0.123	Nicaragua	−0.057	0.658	871	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.045	−0.037	Nigeria	0.004	0.532	2,928	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.124	0.025	North Macedonia	0.075	0.757	1,763	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.331	0.171	Northern Ireland	0.253	0.922	749	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.157	0.086	Norway	0.122	0.953	3,142	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.206	0.092	Pakistan	0.150	0.562	1,200	South Asia
moral	0.160	0.015	Palestine	0.088	0.686	725	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.024	−0.064	Peru	−0.020	0.750	2,183	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.046	−0.042	Philippines	0.002	0.699	2,389	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.315	0.253	Poland	0.284	0.865	3,646	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.099	−0.012	Portugal	0.043	0.847	1,915	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.029	−0.090	Romania	−0.059	0.811	4,615	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.026	−0.041	Russia	−0.007	0.816	4,507	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.034	−0.044	Rwanda	−0.005	0.524	2,554	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.107	0.031	Serbia	0.069	0.787	3,654	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.224	0.131	Singapore	0.178	0.932	1,737	East Asia & Pacific
moral	−0.001	−0.079	Slovakia	−0.041	0.855	3,260	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.330	0.265	Slovenia	0.298	0.896	3,127	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.033	−0.100	South Africa	−0.067	0.699	5,512	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.241	0.163	South Korea	0.202	0.903	3,637	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.351	0.296	Spain	0.323	0.891	4,220	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.082	0.016	Sweden	0.049	0.933	4,155	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.227	0.173	Switzerland	0.200	0.944	5,159	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.026	−0.087	Tajikistan	−0.030	0.650	1,200	Europe & Central Asia
moral	−0.006	−0.070	Thailand	−0.038	0.755	3,751	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.044	−0.075	Trinidad and Tobago	−0.015	0.784	1,206	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.132	0.038	Tunisia	0.085	0.735	1,696	Middle East & North Africa
moral	0.212	0.164	Turkey	0.188	0.791	6,427	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.057	−0.032	Ukraine	0.012	0.751	4,550	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.199	0.140	United Kingdom	0.170	0.922	6,116	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.397	0.342	United States	0.370	0.924	5,823	North America
moral	0.235	0.153	Uruguay	0.194	0.804	2,600	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.073	−0.085	Uzbekistan	−0.006	0.710	615	Europe & Central Asia
moral	0.079	−0.034	Venezuela	0.022	0.761	1,190	Latin America & Caribbean
moral	0.180	0.076	Vietnam	0.128	0.694	1,381	East Asia & Pacific
moral	0.095	−0.032	Zambia	0.032	0.588	945	Sub-Saharan Africa
moral	0.022	−0.069	Zimbabwe	−0.024	0.535	2,626	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.180	0.087	Albania	0.134	0.785	2,209	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.062	−0.107	Algeria	−0.022	0.754	536	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.262	0.170	Andorra	0.217	0.858	1,813	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.262	0.176	Argentina	0.219	0.825	2,326	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.075	0.001	Armenia	0.038	0.755	3,758	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.230	0.161	Australia	0.196	0.939	4,456	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.168	0.088	Austria	0.128	0.908	2,710	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.090	−0.004	Azerbaijan	0.043	0.757	2,152	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.062	−0.051	Bangladesh	0.006	0.608	1,200	South Asia
religious	0.107	0.036	Belarus	0.072	0.808	3,186	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.174	0.067	Belgium	0.121	0.916	1,421	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.098	0.006	Bolivia	0.052	0.693	1,803	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.235	0.150	Bosnia Herzegovina	0.193	0.768	2,269	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.124	0.059	Brazil	0.092	0.759	3,673	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.093	0.009	Bulgaria	0.051	0.813	2,670	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.024	−0.094	Burkina Faso	−0.035	0.423	1,109	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.284	0.224	Canada	0.254	0.926	5,628	North America
religious	0.146	0.037	Chile	0.092	0.843	2,085	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.144	0.090	Colombia	0.117	0.747	5,005	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.399	0.320	Croatia	0.360	0.831	2,354	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.112	0.036	Cyprus	0.074	0.869	3,279	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.048	−0.020	Czechia	0.014	0.888	3,856	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.100	0.027	Denmark	0.064	0.929	4,678	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.088	0.005	Ecuador	0.047	0.752	2,243	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.039	−0.039	Egypt	0.000	0.696	2,721	Middle East & North Africa
religious	−0.025	−0.096	Estonia	−0.061	0.871	3,216	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.157	0.069	Ethiopia	0.113	0.463	1,914	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.227	0.148	Finland	0.188	0.920	2,897	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.217	0.151	France	0.184	0.901	3,845	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.083	0.018	Georgia	0.051	0.780	4,283	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.163	0.113	Germany	0.138	0.936	8,654	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.073	−0.019	Ghana	0.027	0.592	2,330	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.329	0.247	Greece	0.289	0.870	2,118	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.114	0.002	Guatemala	0.059	0.650	1,211	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.054	−0.035	Haiti	0.010	0.498	1,929	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.090	0.024	Hong Kong SAR	0.057	0.933	3,801	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.187	0.119	Hungary	0.153	0.838	3,432	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.174	0.083	Iceland	0.129	0.935	2,299	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.150	0.099	India	0.125	0.640	5,785	South Asia
religious	0.103	0.029	Indonesia	0.066	0.694	4,082	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.135	0.010	Iraq	0.073	0.685	978	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.295	0.145	Ireland	0.221	0.938	682	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.226	0.160	Italy	0.193	0.880	3,515	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.163	0.097	Japan	0.130	0.909	3,386	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.159	0.057	Kazakhstan	0.108	0.800	1,500	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.020	−0.095	Kenya	−0.038	0.590	1,160	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.233	0.134	Kyrgyzstan	0.184	0.672	1,458	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.099	0.009	Latvia	0.054	0.847	2,033	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.174	0.040	Lebanon	0.108	0.757	834	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.079	−0.016	Libya	0.032	0.706	2,594	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.162	0.068	Lithuania	0.115	0.858	1,812	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.327	0.213	Luxembourg	0.271	0.904	1,261	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.184	0.109	Malaysia	0.147	0.802	2,613	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.152	0.031	Maldives	0.092	0.717	1,023	South Asia
religious	0.072	−0.044	Mali	0.014	0.427	1,140	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.145	−0.006	Malta	0.070	0.878	770	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.127	0.070	Mexico	0.099	0.774	4,781	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.096	−0.001	Moldova	0.048	0.700	1,657	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.251	0.152	Mongolia	0.202	0.741	1,611	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.205	0.087	Montenegro	0.146	0.814	1,218	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.084	−0.006	Morocco	0.039	0.667	1,914	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.148	0.102	Netherlands	0.125	0.931	7,785	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.181	0.077	New Zealand	0.130	0.917	1,361	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.084	−0.048	Nicaragua	0.018	0.658	871	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.085	0.003	Nigeria	0.044	0.532	2,929	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.138	0.038	North Macedonia	0.088	0.757	1,729	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.243	0.079	Northern Ireland	0.162	0.922	763	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.129	0.058	Norway	0.093	0.953	3,144	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.223	0.110	Pakistan	0.167	0.562	1,200	South Asia
religious	0.161	0.016	Palestine	0.089	0.686	728	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.110	0.041	Peru	0.076	0.750	3,339	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.117	0.029	Philippines	0.073	0.699	2,388	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.311	0.249	Poland	0.280	0.865	3,703	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.201	0.093	Portugal	0.147	0.847	1,954	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.037	−0.023	Romania	0.007	0.811	4,728	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.142	0.074	Russia	0.108	0.816	4,411	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.036	−0.042	Rwanda	−0.003	0.524	2,554	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.117	0.041	Serbia	0.079	0.787	3,715	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.153	0.058	Singapore	0.106	0.932	1,740	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.026	−0.053	Slovakia	−0.014	0.855	3,257	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.359	0.296	Slovenia	0.328	0.896	3,098	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.108	0.041	South Africa	0.075	0.699	5,568	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.099	0.018	South Korea	0.059	0.903	3,631	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.386	0.333	Spain	0.360	0.891	4,244	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.059	−0.007	Sweden	0.026	0.933	4,155	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.122	0.066	Switzerland	0.094	0.944	5,138	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.324	0.219	Tajikistan	0.272	0.650	1,200	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.049	−0.017	Thailand	0.016	0.755	3,656	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.083	−0.036	Trinidad and Tobago	0.023	0.784	1,210	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.159	0.065	Tunisia	0.113	0.735	1,681	Middle East & North Africa
religious	0.238	0.190	Turkey	0.214	0.791	6,438	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.145	0.058	Ukraine	0.102	0.751	4,601	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.152	0.092	United Kingdom	0.122	0.922	6,155	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.313	0.254	United States	0.284	0.924	5,858	North America
religious	0.241	0.160	Uruguay	0.201	0.804	2,586	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.265	0.113	Uzbekistan	0.190	0.710	615	Europe & Central Asia
religious	0.019	−0.094	Venezuela	−0.037	0.761	1,190	Latin America & Caribbean
religious	0.139	0.034	Vietnam	0.086	0.694	1,373	East Asia & Pacific
religious	0.043	−0.085	Zambia	−0.021	0.588	946	Sub-Saharan Africa
religious	0.003	−0.088	Zimbabwe	−0.042	0.535	2,627	Sub-Saharan Africa

The economic and moral loadings are similar in the lower and middle thirds of countries by HDI (up to 0.86) and higher in the top third, while the religious loading rises from the lower to the middle to the top third. Each dot is one country and the solid line is a straight line fitted across countries, with a 95% band; the dashed line joins the median loading in each third of countries, drawn at the median HDI of the third with its 95% interval. The correlation across countries is +0.51 on the economic axis, +0.52 on the moral axis and +0.43 on the religious axis. The chart shows an association across countries and does not show that development changes what left-right tracks.Note: Kosovo, Macau, Puerto Rico and Taiwan have loadings but no HDI in the context file and are left out of this figure.Note: Each dot shows the country estimate only. The interval of every loading is in the data table.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017 within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more; HDI from the country context file joined to the survey (a single value per country)

The median loading in the highest third minus the median in the lowest third is +0.07 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.13) for religion, +0.17 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.20) for moral attitudes and +0.22 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.32) for economic attitudes, so the religious loading differs least between the two ends of the range. The interval for economic attitudes lies above the interval for religion, and the interval for moral attitudes just overlaps it. The comparison is a cross-section of countries, so it cannot say whether development changes what the scale means or whether HDI stands in for party systems, education or the age of the democracy. Whether the loadings change over time within countries is not examined here.

The pattern reappears in the ESS

The European Social Survey (ESS) asks a left-right question of its own and covers many of the same countries, with separate samples and interviewers. Figure 8 compares the loadings in the two projects and opens on religion, where the mean absolute difference between the two surveys is smallest (0.04). For the 37 countries in both, the religious loadings correlate at +0.88 (95% CI 0.77 to 0.93), and the two surveys give a loading with the same sign in 34 of the countries. The correlation leans on a few countries with high loadings. Without the 5 countries whose WVS and EVS religious loading is 0.25 or higher (Croatia, Greece, Poland, Slovenia and Spain), it is +0.73 (95% CI 0.51 to 0.86) across 32 countries. The ESS measures religious practice by attendance and prayer, not by the importance of God, so the agreement is not a repeat of one question.

Figure 8

Country loadings on religion in the ESS track those in the WVS and EVS, with a correlation of +0.88

Loading of left-right self-placement in the WVS/EVS (horizontal) and the ESS (vertical), countries in both surveys

Show data

Data for Country loadings on religion in the ESS track those in the WVS and EVS, with a correlation of +0.88
Country	Axis	WVS and EVS loading	WVS and EVS interval low	WVS and EVS interval high	WVS and EVS respondents	ESS loading	ESS interval low	ESS interval high	ESS respondents
Albania	religious	+0.13	+0.09	+0.18	2,209	+0.13	+0.05	+0.21	1,075
Austria	religious	+0.13	+0.09	+0.17	2,710	+0.14	+0.11	+0.16	11,712
Belgium	religious	+0.12	+0.07	+0.17	1,421	+0.02	0.00	+0.04	14,734
Bulgaria	religious	+0.05	+0.01	+0.09	2,670	0.00	−0.02	+0.03	11,631
Croatia	religious	+0.36	+0.32	+0.40	2,354	+0.29	+0.26	+0.31	6,727
Cyprus	religious	+0.07	+0.04	+0.11	3,279	+0.07	+0.04	+0.10	5,481
Czechia	religious	+0.01	−0.02	+0.05	3,856	−0.04	−0.06	−0.02	14,071
Denmark	religious	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	4,678	+0.06	+0.03	+0.08	9,023
Estonia	religious	−0.06	−0.10	−0.03	3,216	−0.05	−0.07	−0.03	13,568
Finland	religious	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,897	+0.18	+0.16	+0.19	16,370
France	religious	+0.18	+0.15	+0.22	3,845	+0.14	+0.12	+0.15	16,168
Germany	religious	+0.14	+0.11	+0.16	8,654	+0.15	+0.13	+0.16	29,078
Greece	religious	+0.29	+0.25	+0.33	2,118	+0.24	+0.22	+0.27	8,492
Hungary	religious	+0.15	+0.12	+0.19	3,432	+0.11	+0.09	+0.12	12,999
Iceland	religious	+0.13	+0.08	+0.17	2,299	+0.11	+0.08	+0.14	3,999
Ireland	religious	+0.22	+0.14	+0.29	682	+0.21	+0.20	+0.23	17,000
Italy	religious	+0.19	+0.16	+0.23	3,515	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	8,571
Kosovo	religious	−0.06	−0.13	+0.02	650	+0.10	+0.01	+0.19	811
Latvia	religious	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	2,033	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	4,070
Lithuania	religious	+0.12	+0.07	+0.16	1,812	+0.06	+0.03	+0.08	9,180
Montenegro	religious	+0.15	+0.09	+0.21	1,218	+0.09	+0.04	+0.13	2,973
Netherlands	religious	+0.13	+0.10	+0.15	7,785	+0.13	+0.11	+0.14	14,937
North Macedonia	religious	+0.09	+0.04	+0.14	1,729	+0.12	+0.03	+0.22	880
Norway	religious	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	3,144	+0.08	+0.06	+0.10	13,264
Poland	religious	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	3,703	+0.29	+0.28	+0.31	12,994
Portugal	religious	+0.15	+0.09	+0.20	1,954	+0.14	+0.12	+0.17	11,891
Romania	religious	+0.01	−0.02	+0.04	4,728	+0.09	+0.03	+0.15	1,466
Russia	religious	+0.11	+0.07	+0.14	4,411	+0.04	+0.01	+0.07	7,854
Serbia	religious	+0.08	+0.04	+0.12	3,715	+0.13	+0.08	+0.17	3,605
Slovakia	religious	−0.01	−0.05	+0.03	3,257	0.00	−0.03	+0.02	9,783
Slovenia	religious	+0.33	+0.30	+0.36	3,098	+0.36	+0.34	+0.37	9,147
Spain	religious	+0.36	+0.33	+0.39	4,244	+0.30	+0.28	+0.31	15,753
Sweden	religious	+0.03	−0.01	+0.06	4,155	+0.05	+0.04	+0.07	14,926
Switzerland	religious	+0.09	+0.07	+0.12	5,138	+0.12	+0.11	+0.14	13,176
Turkey	religious	+0.21	+0.19	+0.24	6,438	+0.24	+0.19	+0.29	1,928
Ukraine	religious	+0.10	+0.06	+0.15	4,601	+0.11	+0.08	+0.14	5,947
United Kingdom	religious	+0.12	+0.09	+0.15	6,155	+0.09	+0.07	+0.10	16,448
Albania	moral	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	2,220	+0.06	−0.02	+0.15	1,036
Austria	moral	+0.19	+0.15	+0.23	2,681	+0.22	+0.20	+0.24	11,495
Belgium	moral	+0.08	+0.02	+0.13	1,419	+0.03	+0.01	+0.05	14,693
Bulgaria	moral	−0.08	−0.12	−0.04	2,709	−0.14	−0.16	−0.11	10,701
Croatia	moral	+0.33	+0.29	+0.37	2,358	+0.26	+0.23	+0.28	6,546
Cyprus	moral	+0.09	+0.05	+0.13	3,262	+0.01	−0.03	+0.04	5,316
Czechia	moral	−0.11	−0.14	−0.07	3,909	−0.12	−0.14	−0.10	13,756
Denmark	moral	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	4,701	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	8,992
Estonia	moral	−0.03	−0.07	+0.01	3,240	−0.06	−0.08	−0.04	13,276
Finland	moral	+0.16	+0.12	+0.20	2,910	+0.17	+0.16	+0.19	16,287
France	moral	+0.19	+0.15	+0.22	3,818	+0.14	+0.12	+0.15	16,107
Germany	moral	+0.16	+0.13	+0.18	8,668	+0.19	+0.18	+0.21	29,021
Greece	moral	+0.29	+0.25	+0.33	2,188	+0.19	+0.16	+0.21	8,325
Hungary	moral	+0.09	+0.06	+0.12	3,448	+0.13	+0.11	+0.15	12,264
Iceland	moral	+0.16	+0.11	+0.20	2,306	+0.10	+0.07	+0.13	3,982
Ireland	moral	+0.22	+0.14	+0.30	665	+0.11	+0.09	+0.13	16,742
Italy	moral	+0.17	+0.14	+0.21	3,452	+0.20	+0.18	+0.22	8,485
Kosovo	moral	−0.02	−0.10	+0.06	655	−0.14	−0.24	−0.04	715
Latvia	moral	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	2,028	−0.06	−0.10	−0.03	3,931
Lithuania	moral	+0.04	−0.01	+0.08	1,829	−0.01	−0.04	+0.01	8,772
Montenegro	moral	+0.09	+0.03	+0.15	1,250	+0.06	+0.01	+0.11	2,898
Netherlands	moral	+0.16	+0.13	+0.18	7,801	+0.17	+0.15	+0.18	14,891
North Macedonia	moral	+0.07	+0.02	+0.12	1,763	+0.01	−0.09	+0.11	840
Norway	moral	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	3,142	+0.15	+0.13	+0.17	13,231
Poland	moral	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	3,646	+0.23	+0.21	+0.25	12,621
Portugal	moral	+0.04	−0.01	+0.10	1,915	+0.11	+0.08	+0.13	11,519
Romania	moral	−0.06	−0.09	−0.03	4,615	0.00	−0.06	+0.06	1,354
Russia	moral	−0.01	−0.04	+0.03	4,507	−0.08	−0.11	−0.05	7,160
Serbia	moral	+0.07	+0.03	+0.11	3,654	+0.14	+0.10	+0.19	3,549
Slovakia	moral	−0.04	−0.08	0.00	3,260	−0.07	−0.10	−0.05	9,445
Slovenia	moral	+0.30	+0.26	+0.33	3,127	+0.22	+0.20	+0.24	8,891
Spain	moral	+0.32	+0.30	+0.35	4,220	+0.23	+0.21	+0.25	15,588
Sweden	moral	+0.05	+0.02	+0.08	4,155	+0.11	+0.09	+0.12	14,860
Switzerland	moral	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	5,159	+0.21	+0.20	+0.23	13,090
Turkey	moral	+0.19	+0.16	+0.21	6,427	+0.22	+0.16	+0.27	1,745
Ukraine	moral	+0.01	−0.03	+0.06	4,550	−0.02	−0.06	+0.01	5,220
United Kingdom	moral	+0.17	+0.14	+0.20	6,116	+0.16	+0.14	+0.18	16,347
Austria	economic	+0.21	+0.17	+0.25	2,705	+0.19	+0.14	+0.24	1,817
Belgium	economic	+0.25	+0.20	+0.30	1,414	+0.19	+0.16	+0.22	3,372
Bulgaria	economic	+0.25	+0.21	+0.29	2,773	+0.17	+0.11	+0.22	1,600
Croatia	economic	+0.02	−0.03	+0.07	2,352	−0.08	−0.15	−0.01	1,108
Cyprus	economic	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	3,266	+0.09	+0.02	+0.15	1,008
Czechia	economic	+0.37	+0.35	+0.40	3,991	+0.29	+0.26	+0.32	3,861
Denmark	economic	+0.46	+0.43	+0.49	4,679	+0.32	+0.26	+0.37	1,535
Estonia	economic	+0.26	+0.23	+0.29	3,302	+0.13	+0.10	+0.17	3,034
Finland	economic	+0.44	+0.40	+0.47	2,932	+0.24	+0.21	+0.27	3,937
France	economic	+0.34	+0.31	+0.37	3,827	+0.27	+0.24	+0.30	3,859
Germany	economic	+0.19	+0.17	+0.22	8,683	+0.16	+0.13	+0.19	5,288
Greece	economic	+0.19	+0.15	+0.24	2,184	+0.12	+0.07	+0.18	1,709
Hungary	economic	0.00	−0.04	+0.03	3,447	−0.03	−0.08	+0.01	2,534
Iceland	economic	+0.50	+0.46	+0.53	2,307	+0.23	+0.16	+0.30	829
Ireland	economic	+0.07	−0.01	+0.15	687	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	3,887
Italy	economic	+0.24	+0.21	+0.27	3,509	+0.12	+0.07	+0.16	1,687
Latvia	economic	+0.07	+0.02	+0.11	2,056	−0.11	−0.16	−0.06	1,656
Lithuania	economic	+0.10	+0.05	+0.15	1,871	+0.04	−0.02	+0.10	1,510
Netherlands	economic	+0.39	+0.37	+0.41	7,741	+0.24	+0.20	+0.28	3,271
Norway	economic	+0.45	+0.42	+0.48	3,148	+0.29	+0.26	+0.33	3,009
Poland	economic	0.00	−0.03	+0.03	3,718	−0.05	−0.09	−0.02	2,746
Portugal	economic	+0.12	+0.06	+0.17	1,895	+0.11	+0.06	+0.16	2,744
Romania	economic	+0.11	+0.08	+0.14	4,705	+0.06	0.00	+0.12	1,460
Russia	economic	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	4,564	+0.09	+0.05	+0.14	3,162
Slovakia	economic	+0.12	+0.09	+0.16	3,336	+0.19	+0.13	+0.25	1,545
Slovenia	economic	−0.03	−0.07	0.00	3,138	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	2,079
Spain	economic	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	4,200	+0.19	+0.16	+0.22	3,752
Sweden	economic	+0.59	+0.57	+0.61	4,213	+0.38	+0.35	+0.42	3,242
Switzerland	economic	+0.34	+0.32	+0.37	5,154	+0.27	+0.23	+0.30	3,102
Turkey	economic	+0.08	+0.05	+0.10	6,325	−0.04	−0.09	+0.02	1,883
Ukraine	economic	+0.08	+0.03	+0.12	4,667	+0.11	+0.02	+0.18	1,037
United Kingdom	economic	+0.36	+0.34	+0.39	6,124	+0.24	+0.20	+0.27	3,872

Dots near the dashed line are countries where the two surveys give the same loading. On the religious axis the correlation across 37 countries is +0.88, and it is +0.73 across 32 countries once the 5 labeled countries with the highest WVS and EVS loadings (Croatia, Greece, Poland, Slovenia and Spain) are set aside. The mean absolute difference is 0.04. The WVS and EVS measure the importance of God and the ESS measures attendance and prayer.Note: Northern Ireland is left out because the ESS reports it within the United Kingdom.Note: The chart shows no interval on either loading. The data table lists the interval and the number of respondents of both loadings for every country.Note: The two surveys use different items and cover different years, so equal values are not expected on the economic and moral views.Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023, and European Social Survey, rounds 3 to 11 (rounds 4 and 8 for the economic axis); weighted (weight within each survey); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more in both

The moral loadings agree at +0.89 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.94) across 37 countries, using a single ESS question on the freedom of gay and lesbian people to live as they wish. The economic loadings correlate at +0.88 (95% CI 0.76 to 0.94) across 32 countries, using six ESS questions on welfare and income differences that were fielded in two rounds, but the ESS loading is lower than the WVS and EVS loading in 26 of them, by a median of −0.07. The surveys therefore agree on the order of the countries on the economic axis and not on the size of the loading. The weakness of the WVS index does not explain the gap: in these countries the economic items of the WVS and EVS agree with one another about as much as the ESS items do, at median pairwise correlations of +0.15 and +0.13. The two surveys differ in items and in years, and this chapter does not test which of the two accounts for the gap.

What these data cannot show

The loadings are associations between two answers given by the same person in one interview, so they do not show whether attitudes shape self-placement, self-placement shapes attitudes, or a third influence such as a party system shapes both. Waves from 2005 to 2023 are pooled inside each country, so a loading blends years, and the economic index is a weak measure whose loadings depend on which items are averaged (Figure 6). The scale itself may mean different things to different respondents. In a German survey with open-ended questions, the associations people attached to left and right varied with self-placement, education and region of residence [7], and a study in Mexico and Argentina found different conceptions of the labels across individuals and contexts [8]. A loading therefore describes the association between the label and an attitude among people who answer the question. Chapter 7.5, Non-placement on the left-right scale (planned) asks who declines to answer, and Chapter 7.6, Education and ideology (planned) asks how the association differs by education.

The intervals are model based and ignore clustering in the sample design (answers from the same place resemble one another) and stratification, which can raise or lower the variance of a correlation. The analysis does not use strata or sampling units, so the chapter gives a sensitivity check in place of a design-based interval, and the design effect in that check is assumed, not estimated. If clustering multiplied the variance of every correlation by 2 (a design effect of 2), the number of countries with an interval above zero would fall to 66 for religion, 56 for economic attitudes and 55 for moral attitudes, and 18 countries would have no axis above zero. The countries are the ones the surveys reached, not a random sample of the world, and the correlations across countries treat each loading as if it were measured without error. The agreement between the two surveys has a limit: both projects ask for self-placement on a left-right scale, with a ten-point form in the WVS and EVS, an eleven-point form in the ESS and different wording, so part of the agreement could come from how the label works in each country rather than from the attitudes. The data hold no party manifestos, expert placements of parties or vote choices, so they cannot say why the label attaches to religion in one country and to economics in another.

Data sources

World Values Survey and EVSWorld Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; Human Development Index from the country context fileYears: 1981-2023 (7 unified waves) · Weights: weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries · License: Free download with registration; users must cite the release.
European Social SurveyEuropean Social Survey rounds 3 to 11 (rounds 4 and 8 for the welfare items), countries also in the WVS/EVSYears: 2002-2023 (rounds 1 to 11; round 11 was fielded in 2023 and 2024) · Weights: weight (analysis weight) within each country · License: Open access after free registration in the ESS Data Portal; follow the ESS data citation requirements.

All data sources

Methods

Sample: respondents in the World Values Survey and European Values Study with fieldwork in 2005 or later (waves 5 to 7 and EVS 2008 and 2017), who answered the left-right question (1 to 10, 10 = right) and carry a positive weight: 107 of the 112 countries and territories surveyed in that window and 289,897 respondents. 104 of these countries have an effective sample of 300 or more on at least one axis, and their 288,980 respondents enter the estimates. The cleaned file holds 118 countries and territories; ten EVS countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Kosovo and Northern Cyprus) have a blank country label there and are restored from the country code before any estimate. Estimand: for each country and axis, the survey-weighted Pearson correlation between left-right and the axis, waves pooled (the loading). Axes: the economic index averages the within-country weighted z-scores of income differences, government responsibility, state ownership and competition (E035, E037, E036, E039; at least three answered), the moral index averages those of the justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce (F118, F120, F121; at least two answered), and the religious axis is the importance of God (F063). Item orientation is fixed from the scale labels in the survey dictionary. Weights: the survey weight (S017) within each country; cross-country summaries count each country once. Intervals: 95% Fisher z intervals (Fisher z is a transformation that gives a correlation an approximately normal sampling distribution) on the Kish effective sample size of the complete cases (the sample size after unequal weights have reduced precision). They treat the weighted sample as a simple random sample and ignore clustering (respondents interviewed in the same place resemble one another) and stratification, which can raise or lower the variance of a correlation; the last section reports the counts of countries with an interval above zero when the effective sample is divided by a design effect of 2, which is a sensitivity check and not an estimate. Medians across countries have 95% percentile intervals from a bootstrap over countries (countries are resampled with replacement, 2,000 replicates, seed 12345), and the difference between the medians of two groups of countries resamples each group on its own. Correlations across countries use Fisher z on the number of countries. Suppression: a country-axis cell needs an effective sample of at least 300. Strongest axis: the axis with the largest loading among the axes whose interval is above zero; the lead is clear when the lower end of that interval is above the point estimate of every other axis. Human development: one value per country from the context file joined to the survey, missing for 4 countries in the comparisons. The line in the human development figure is a straight line fitted across countries by least squares (the line that minimizes the squared vertical distances), with a 95% band from robust (HC3) standard errors, which stay valid when the spread around the line differs across countries. The thirds of countries are cut at the tercile points of the HDI among the countries with both an HDI and a loading, separately for each axis; the dashed line in that figure joins the median loading of each third, drawn at the median HDI of the third, with a 95% percentile interval from a bootstrap over the countries of that third. ESS comparison: loadings of the ESS 0 to 10 left-right scale on attendance and prayer (rounds 3 to 11), on gay and lesbian freedom (rounds 3 to 11) and on six welfare items (rounds 4 and 8), for 37, 37 and 32 countries in both surveys, with the ESS analysis weight.

References

Kish, Leslie (1965). Survey Sampling. John Wiley and Sons.
Fisher, Ronald A. (1921). On the Probable Error of a Coefficient of Correlation Deduced from a Small Sample. Metron 1(4): 3-32.
Knutsen, Oddbjorn (1995). Value Orientations, Political Conflicts and Left-Right Identification: A Comparative Study. European Journal of Political Research 28(1): 63-93. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00487.x
Malka, Ariel; Lelkes, Yphtach; Soto, Christopher J. (2019). Are Cultural and Economic Conservatism Positively Correlated? A Large-Scale Cross-National Test. British Journal of Political Science 49(3): 1045-1069. www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-political-science/article/are-cultural-and-economic-conservatism-positively-correlated-a-largescale-crossnational-test/83AFEDEA5E004CF23631C5388E7C9F67
Tavits, Margit; Letki, Natalia (2009). When Left Is Right: Party Ideology and Policy in Post-Communist Europe. American Political Science Review 103(4): 555-569.
Piurko, Yuval; Schwartz, Shalom H.; Davidov, Eldad (2011). Basic Personal Values and the Meaning of Left-Right Political Orientations in 20 Countries. Political Psychology 32(4): 537-561. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2011.00828.x
Bauer, Paul C.; Barbera, Pablo; Ackermann, Kathrin; Venetz, Aaron (2017). Is the Left-Right Scale a Valid Measure of Ideology? Individual-Level Variation in Associations with Left and Right and Left-Right Self-Placement. Political Behavior 39(3): 553-583. doi:10.1007/s11109-016-9368-2
Zechmeister, Elizabeth J. (2006). What’s Left and Who’s Right? A Q-method Study of Individual and Contextual Influences on the Meaning of Ideological Labels. Political Behavior 28(2): 151-173. doi:10.1007/s11109-006-9006-5

How to cite

@misc{singh2026leftandrightacrosscountries,
  author = {Singh, Vishal},
  title = {Left and right across countries},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://vishalsingh.org/politics/left-and-right-across-countries},
  note = {In The Public Mind. Published 30 September 2026.}
}

Which attitude leads differs by country

Countries with different patterns

Most loadings are small and above zero

The economic loading depends on the items

Loadings rise with human development

The pattern reappears in the ESS

What these data cannot show

Data sources

Methods

References

How to cite

Reading paths