V-Dem Institute

Political Science Research Datav-dem.net

V-Dem Institute is a non-profit academic research institute at the University of Gothenburg that produces the world's largest disaggregated democracy dataset, covering 600+ indicators across 179 countries from 1789 to present, using Bayesian IRT estimation on expert-coded data from 4,200+ Country Experts. It distributes all datasets and reports free of charge, funded by research grants.

Company typePrivate
Founded2011
HeadquartersGothenburg, Sweden
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2B
OfferingDigital Commerce or Content

What V-Dem Institute does

V-Dem Institute is a non-profit academic research institute headquartered at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, that produces the world's most comprehensive disaggregated dataset on democracy. The institute measures 600+ indicators across 179 countries from 1789 to the present and distills them into five high-level indices covering electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian dimensions of democracy. Data is collected annually in January via online surveys administered through a global expert network comprising 5 Principal Investigators, 23 Project Managers, 33 Regional Managers, 134 Country Coordinators, and over 4,200 Country Experts, with at least five experts per indicator per country (typically 25+ per country). Methodologically, V-Dem applies a Bayesian Item-Response Theory (IRT) estimation framework to convert ordinal expert ratings into continuous estimates with quantified uncertainty (68% credibility intervals), enabling detection of subtle institutional changes in democratic quality that single-source metrics cannot capture.

The institute operates nine regional centers spanning Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia, East Asia, Eastern Europe & Russia, Latin America, North America (hosted by the Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame), Southern Africa, and Southern Europe, supporting localized research, workshops, and stakeholder engagement. Its product portfolio extends beyond the core V-Dem Dataset to include the V-Party Dataset (party characteristics), ERT Dataset (Episodes of Regime Transformation, 1900–2021), V-Forecast (predictive research program), Democracy Reports (annual flagship publications), working papers, policy briefs, country briefs, thematic reports, and interactive graphing tools. Collaborations include Demscore (a shared social science e-infrastructure), the Digital Society Project, and the Varieties of Indoctrination Project.

V-Dem's business model is grant-funded academic research rather than commercial: all datasets, reports, and tools are distributed free of charge through v-dem.net and via Demscore, with no paid tiers, enterprise licensing, or subscription pricing. Funding comes from research councils and institutional supporters (the Swedish Research Council is explicitly named as funding projects on democratic resilience), with the University of Gothenburg providing institutional hosting and the University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute serving as a founding partner and North American regional hub. End-users include academic researchers, policy makers, international organizations, journalists, and educators; the Democracy Report has been downloaded 84,000+ times, indicating broad downstream reach without a monetization layer.

V-Dem Institute firmographics

Firmographics

Name: V-Dem Institute
Legal name: Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)
Website: https://v-dem.net
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2011
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: V-Dem Institute is a non-profit academic research institute at the University of Gothenburg that produces the world's largest disaggregated democracy dataset, covering 600+ indicators across 179 countries from 1789 to present, using Bayesian IRT estimation on expert-coded data from 4,200+ Country Experts. It distributes all datasets and reports free of charge, funded by research grants.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

V-Dem Institute industry classification

Industry

Product category: Political Science Research Data
NAICS: Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)
SIC: Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)
akta.pro primary industry: Electoral Support & Election Observation (BPADAGAA)

Keywords

Democracy measurement datasets
Political science research data
Comparative governance indices
Regime transformation data
Democratic indicators research

Where V-Dem Institute is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Gothenburg
HQ country: Sweden
HQ region: Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

V-Dem Institute business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Digital Commerce or Content
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

Research Funding: V-Dem operates as a research institute primarily funded by research grants and institutional support. The Swedish Research Council has funded specific research projects. The institute appears to be grant-funded rather than commercially operated.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Freemium	Annual	Free access to all datasets and publications

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

V-Dem Institute product offering

Product offering

Core offering

V-Dem Institute produces a multidimensional, disaggregated democracy dataset covering 179 countries from 1789 to present, comprising 600+ indicators organized into five high-level indices: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian democracy. Data is collected annually from a global network of 4,200+ Country Experts through online surveys and processed using a proprietary Bayesian Item-Response Theory (IRT) estimation method that produces continuous estimates with quantified uncertainty. The institute also publishes annual Democracy Reports, working papers, policy briefs, country briefs, thematic reports, and provides interactive graphing tools for data exploration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

V-Dem Dataset: A multidimensional and disaggregated dataset measuring democracy across 179 countries from 1789 to present
V-Party Dataset
ERT Dataset
Democracy Reports
Digital Society Project
V-Forecast

Quantifiable outcome

179 countries measured annually with democracy indices
+2 more outcomes

Companies that use V-Dem Institute

Customer profile

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

V-Dem Institute technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature4 records

V-Dem Institute partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

DemscorecoreTechnology or IntegrationDemscore is an e-infrastructure that brings together some of the world's largest social science datasets, including V-Dem data. V-Dem datasets can be downloaded through this platform alongside other datasets.
Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre DamecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKellogg Institute was one of two founding institutions for V-Dem and initially responsible for data collection in the Western Hemisphere, hosted workshops, and funded students. It is now the V-Dem Regional Center in North America.
University of GothenburgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe V-Dem Institute is headquartered at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The university provides institutional support and hosting for the organization.
Digital Society ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerV-Dem collaborates with the Digital Society Project on research and data collection related to digital society indicators.
Varieties of Indoctrination ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research project studying varieties of indoctrination, integrated with V-Dem's research programs.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

V-Dem Institute competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

V-Dem Institute financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

V-Dem Institute leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

V-Dem Institute subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries9 records

V-Dem Institute funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

V-Dem Institute M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about V-Dem Institute

What does V-Dem Institute do?

Is V-Dem Institute a public or private company?

V-Dem Institute is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was V-Dem Institute founded?

V-Dem Institute was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is V-Dem Institute based?

V-Dem Institute is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, in the Europe region.

How does V-Dem Institute make money?

One revenue line is on record: research Funding.

Does V-Dem Institute have an API?

No public API is recorded for V-Dem Institute.

What industry is V-Dem Institute in?

V-Dem Institute's product category is Political Science Research Data. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPADAGAA, Electoral Support & Election Observation. Its NAICS code is 54172 and its SIC code is 7370.