Voter turnout in South Africa and around the world: which country’s citizens vote in the elections the most?

Picodi South Africa analyst team took a closer look at the voter turnout statistics in 187 countries worldwide and created a ranking showing which country’s citizens exercise their right to vote the most.

For our ranking, we collected the voter turnout data from the last three elections, including either presidential or parliamentary elections when available, and calculated the average voter turnout based on this data. In cases where elections were not decided in the first round, we calculated the average based on turnout in both rounds.

This is what the voter turnout looked like in South Africa:

• parliamentary elections 2019 – 66.05%
• parliamentary elections 2014 – 73.48%
• parliamentary elections 2009 – 77.30%

The average voter turnout in South Africa is 72.28%. This situates our country in the 62^nd place of the worldwide ranking (out of 187). A similar percentage of citizens eligible to vote goes to the polls in countries such as Germany (74.75%), Austria (73.59%) and Italy (70.68%).

In the African ranking, South Africa is at the top of the list in the 12^th place (out of 48). For comparison, in Mauritius, the average voter turnout is 76.41%, in Kenya – 66.84% and in Nigeria – 29.15%.

Vietnam is the worldwide leader in voter turnout – on average, 99.10% of Vietnamese citizens participate in the elections. Next in the ranking are Laos and Rwanda, where the average voter turnout is 98.55% and 96.65% respectively. In Africa, Rwanda (96.65%), Ethiopia (93.43%) and Equatorial Guinea (91.71%) boast the highest average scores.

On the other hand, at the end of the worldwide ranking, we can find Haiti – in the last few years, only 21.58% of Haitians exercised their right to vote. Slightly better results were noted in Nigeria (29.15%) and Afghanistan (32.71%). The lowest voter turnout in Africa can be found in Nigeria (29.15%), Egypt (32.80%) and Algeria (33.33%).

High turnout: social engagement or coercion?

Looking at the voter turnout statistics, it is worth remembering that high turnout does not always mean high social engagement and trust in the local government. Some countries, such as Luxembourg, Belgium, Bolivia and Uruguay, introduced compulsory voting law, according to which sanctions such as a financial penalty can be imposed on citizens who fail to participate in the elections. Some governments may also abuse their power to manipulate the elections, including the voter turnout.

Methodology and sources

The average voter turnout was calculated using data from the last three presidential and/or parliamentary elections held in countries included in this ranking. Turnout data comes from International IDEA, IFES Election Guide and local election commissions. In situations where elections had two rounds, we calculated the average based on the turnout in both rounds.

All the data in the form of a spreadsheet can be found here.

Public use

The data presented in this report, including the infographics, can be used freely for commercial and non-commercial purposes. We only ask you to credit the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage.