The world is becoming more authoritarian and many democratic governments have begun to adopt tactics typical of autocratic regimes, restricting freedom of expression and weakening the state, a trend exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This agrees with a report on the state of Democracy in the world. According to studies, in 2020, for the fifth consecutive year, the number of countries that moved in an authoritarian direction exceeded those that moved in a democratic direction.
The number of democracies considered to be in decline has doubled in the last decade and now represents a quarter of the world's population. This includes established democracies such as the United States, but also members of the European Union. The pandemic served as a justification for some governments to exercise greater control over the population.
Like some countries considered to be in democratic regression, they are among those with the largest number of inhabitants in the world. Currently, 70% of the world's population lives in non-democratic regimes or in countries in regression to Democracy, according to the report. The proportion of the world's population living in exemplary democracies is just 9%.