The World's Constitutions
A constitution is the one document a country writes about itself on purpose. Most of them do not last.
Countries
196
with a constitutional record
Systems since 1789
758
555 already replaced
Median life
14 yrs
555 replaced, mean 15.2
Oldest in force
1789
United States
The oldest still standing
Adoption year of the constitution currently in force.
How this is measured
Show all 40 countries
How often a constitution changes
Amendment events per decade in force, for every constitution at least twenty years old.
How this is measured
| Afghanistan | 0.00 | 0 | 2004 | 21 | 2004 |
| Andorra | 0.00 | 0 | 1993 | 32 | 1993 |
| Antigua & Barbuda | 0.00 | 0 | 1981 | 44 | 1981 |
| Bahamas | 0.00 | 0 | 1973 | 52 | 1973 |
| Denmark | 0.00 | 0 | 1953 | 72 | 1953 |
| East Timor | 0.00 | 0 | 2002 | 23 | 2002 |
| Eritrea | 0.00 | 0 | 1997 | 28 | 1997 |
| Eswatini | 0.00 | 0 | 2005 | 20 | 2005 |
| Ethiopia | 0.00 | 0 | 1994 | 31 | 1994 |
| Iraq | 0.00 | 0 | 2005 | 20 | 2005 |
| Japan | 0.00 | 0 | 1946 | 79 | 1946 |
| Liberia | 0.00 | 0 | 1986 | 39 | 1986 |
| Philippines | 0.00 | 0 | 1987 | 38 | 1987 |
| St. Kitts & Nevis | 0.00 | 0 | 1983 | 42 | 1983 |
| St. Vincent & the Grenadines | 0.00 | 0 | 1979 | 46 | 1979 |
| Kuwait | 0.16 | 1 | 1962 | 63 | 1992 |
| Monaco | 0.16 | 1 | 1962 | 63 | 2002 |
| Iran | 0.22 | 1 | 1979 | 46 | 1989 |
| Haiti | 0.26 | 1 | 1987 | 38 | 2012 |
| Suriname | 0.26 | 1 | 1987 | 38 | 1992 |
| Romania | 0.29 | 1 | 1991 | 34 | 2003 |
| Ghana | 0.30 | 1 | 1992 | 33 | 1996 |
| Paraguay | 0.30 | 1 | 1992 | 33 | 2011 |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 0.33 | 1 | 1995 | 30 | 2009 |
| Venezuela | 0.38 | 1 | 1999 | 26 | 2009 |
| Qatar | 0.45 | 1 | 2003 | 22 | 2024 |
| Congo DR | 0.50 | 1 | 2005 | 20 | 2011 |
| Guatemala | 0.50 | 2 | 1985 | 40 | 1993 |
| Indonesia | 0.53 | 4 | 1949 | 76 | 2002 |
| Benin | 0.57 | 2 | 1990 | 35 | 2025 |
| Grenada | 0.59 | 3 | 1974 | 51 | 1992 |
| Dominica | 0.64 | 3 | 1978 | 47 | 2014 |
| Spain | 0.64 | 3 | 1978 | 47 | 2024 |
| Australia | 0.65 | 8 | 1901 | 124 | 1985 |
| United States | 0.68 | 16 | 1789 | 236 | 1992 |
| Poland | 0.71 | 2 | 1997 | 28 | 2009 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0.73 | 3 | 1984 | 41 | 1996 |
| Argentina | 0.76 | 13 | 1853 | 172 | 1994 |
| Greece | 0.80 | 4 | 1975 | 50 | 2019 |
| Iceland | 0.86 | 7 | 1944 | 81 | 2013 |
| Namibia | 0.86 | 3 | 1990 | 35 | 2014 |
| Bahrain | 0.87 | 2 | 2002 | 23 | 2017 |
| Kiribati | 0.87 | 4 | 1979 | 46 | 2018 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 0.88 | 3 | 1991 | 34 | 2012 |
| Laos | 0.88 | 3 | 1991 | 34 | 2025 |
| Mauritania | 0.88 | 3 | 1991 | 34 | 2017 |
| Nauru | 0.88 | 5 | 1968 | 57 | 2025 |
| Yemen | 0.88 | 3 | 1991 | 34 | 2015 |
| Vietnam | 0.91 | 3 | 1992 | 33 | 2025 |
| Cameroon | 0.94 | 5 | 1972 | 53 | 2008 |
| Panama | 0.94 | 5 | 1972 | 53 | 2004 |
| Libya | 0.95 | 7 | 1951 | 74 | 2018 |
| Belarus | 0.97 | 3 | 1994 | 31 | 2022 |
| Tajikistan | 0.97 | 3 | 1994 | 31 | 2016 |
| Armenia | 1.00 | 3 | 1995 | 30 | 2020 |
| Azerbaijan | 1.00 | 3 | 1995 | 30 | 2016 |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 1.00 | 5 | 1975 | 50 | 2003 |
| Uganda | 1.00 | 3 | 1995 | 30 | 2017 |
| South Korea | 1.04 | 8 | 1948 | 77 | 1987 |
| Finland | 1.15 | 3 | 1999 | 26 | 2018 |
| Nigeria | 1.15 | 3 | 1999 | 26 | 2023 |
| China | 1.16 | 5 | 1982 | 43 | 2018 |
| Zambia | 1.18 | 4 | 1991 | 34 | 2025 |
| Djibouti | 1.21 | 4 | 1992 | 33 | 2025 |
| Mongolia | 1.21 | 4 | 1992 | 33 | 2023 |
| Netherlands | 1.23 | 26 | 1814 | 211 | 2023 |
| Mozambique | 1.43 | 3 | 2004 | 21 | 2023 |
| Portugal | 1.43 | 7 | 1976 | 49 | 2005 |
| Bulgaria | 1.47 | 5 | 1991 | 34 | 2015 |
| Estonia | 1.52 | 5 | 1992 | 33 | 2025 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1.52 | 5 | 1992 | 33 | 2013 |
| Cape Verde | 1.56 | 7 | 1980 | 45 | 2010 |
| Vanuatu | 1.56 | 7 | 1980 | 45 | 2024 |
| Luxembourg | 1.59 | 25 | 1868 | 157 | 2023 |
| Latvia | 1.65 | 14 | 1940 | 85 | 2018 |
| Jordan | 1.78 | 13 | 1952 | 73 | 2022 |
| Belgium | 1.86 | 36 | 1831 | 194 | 2025 |
| Russia | 1.88 | 6 | 1993 | 32 | 2022 |
| North Korea | 1.89 | 10 | 1972 | 53 | 2025 |
| Canada | 1.96 | 31 | 1867 | 158 | 2011 |
| Cyprus | 2.00 | 13 | 1960 | 65 | 2025 |
| Kazakhstan | 2.00 | 6 | 1995 | 30 | 2022 |
| Uruguay | 2.03 | 12 | 1966 | 59 | 2004 |
| Sierra Leone | 2.06 | 7 | 1991 | 34 | 2022 |
| Lithuania | 2.12 | 7 | 1992 | 33 | 2022 |
| Italy | 2.18 | 17 | 1947 | 78 | 2023 |
| Jamaica | 2.22 | 14 | 1962 | 63 | 2023 |
| Sudan | 2.22 | 6 | 1998 | 27 | 2025 |
| Rwanda | 2.27 | 5 | 2003 | 22 | 2023 |
| Tanzania | 2.29 | 11 | 1977 | 48 | 2005 |
| Solomon Islands | 2.34 | 11 | 1978 | 47 | 2023 |
| Burkina Faso | 2.35 | 8 | 1991 | 34 | 2022 |
| North Macedonia | 2.35 | 8 | 1991 | 34 | 2019 |
| Ukraine | 2.41 | 7 | 1996 | 29 | 2019 |
| Belize | 2.50 | 11 | 1981 | 44 | 2022 |
| Czech Republic | 2.50 | 8 | 1993 | 32 | 2021 |
| France | 2.54 | 17 | 1958 | 67 | 2024 |
| Sri Lanka | 2.55 | 12 | 1978 | 47 | 2022 |
| Albania | 2.59 | 7 | 1998 | 27 | 2022 |
| Ireland | 2.61 | 23 | 1937 | 88 | 2019 |
| El Salvador | 2.62 | 11 | 1983 | 42 | 2025 |
| Samoa | 2.70 | 17 | 1962 | 63 | 2025 |
| Botswana | 2.71 | 16 | 1966 | 59 | 2021 |
| Lesotho | 2.81 | 9 | 1993 | 32 | 2025 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 2.86 | 14 | 1976 | 49 | 2007 |
| Bangladesh | 3.02 | 16 | 1972 | 53 | 2018 |
| Barbados | 3.05 | 18 | 1966 | 59 | 2021 |
| Gambia | 3.10 | 9 | 1996 | 29 | 2018 |
| Cambodia | 3.12 | 10 | 1993 | 32 | 2025 |
| Nicaragua | 3.16 | 12 | 1987 | 38 | 2025 |
| Turkey | 3.26 | 14 | 1982 | 43 | 2017 |
| Seychelles | 3.44 | 11 | 1993 | 32 | 2025 |
| Liechtenstein | 3.46 | 36 | 1921 | 104 | 2020 |
| Malawi | 3.55 | 11 | 1994 | 31 | 2023 |
| Guyana | 3.56 | 16 | 1980 | 45 | 2016 |
| Senegal | 3.75 | 9 | 2001 | 24 | 2019 |
| Mauritius | 3.86 | 22 | 1968 | 57 | 2016 |
| South Africa | 4.14 | 12 | 1996 | 29 | 2023 |
| Moldova | 4.19 | 13 | 1994 | 31 | 2024 |
| Papua New Guinea | 4.20 | 21 | 1975 | 50 | 2016 |
| Pakistan | 4.23 | 22 | 1973 | 52 | 2025 |
| Peru | 4.69 | 15 | 1993 | 32 | 2024 |
| Costa Rica | 4.74 | 36 | 1949 | 76 | 2020 |
| Honduras | 5.12 | 22 | 1982 | 43 | 2021 |
| Germany | 5.39 | 41 | 1949 | 76 | 2025 |
| Malta | 5.41 | 33 | 1964 | 61 | 2025 |
| Malaysia | 5.59 | 38 | 1957 | 68 | 2025 |
| Georgia | 5.67 | 17 | 1995 | 30 | 2020 |
| Austria | 6.37 | 58 | 1934 | 91 | 2024 |
| Chile | 6.67 | 30 | 1980 | 45 | 2025 |
| India | 7.11 | 54 | 1949 | 76 | 2023 |
| Israel | 7.31 | 49 | 1958 | 67 | 2023 |
| Colombia | 7.35 | 25 | 1991 | 34 | 2025 |
| Sweden | 7.45 | 38 | 1974 | 51 | 2023 |
| Mexico | 7.50 | 81 | 1917 | 108 | 2025 |
| Switzerland | 8.08 | 21 | 1999 | 26 | 2025 |
| Brazil | 8.92 | 33 | 1988 | 37 | 2025 |
Countries that keep starting over
Constitutional systems adopted since 1789.
How this is measured
- Dominican Republic33 constitutions
- Ecuador23 constitutions
- Venezuela22 constitutions
- Haiti21 constitutions
- Bolivia17 constitutions
- France14 constitutions
- Honduras12 constitutions
- Nicaragua12 constitutions
- Serbia12 constitutions
- El Salvador11 constitutions
Three ways to have a constitution
Most countries keep one amendable document; a few, including the United Kingdom, do not.
How this is measured
United Kingdom
25 instruments · 1.43 per decade since 1900
The United Kingdom has a constitution but not a document. It is a body of statutes, prerogative powers, court decisions and conventions, and any of the statutes can be changed by an ordinary Act of Parliament. That is why the comparative dataset records no amendment procedure for it: there is nothing to amend, only law to replace.
The instruments25 since 1689
- 1689Bill of RightsSettled the terms on which the Crown holds power: no suspending laws, no taxation without Parliament, free elections, free speech in Parliament.
- 1701Act of SettlementFixed the succession and gave judges tenure during good behaviour rather than at the Crown's pleasure.
- 1707Union with Scotland ActMerged the English and Scottish parliaments into one Parliament of Great Britain.
- 1800Union with Ireland ActAdded Ireland to the union, in force from 1801.
- 1832Representation of the People ActThe Great Reform Act: redrew the borough seats and widened the franchise for the first time.
- 1867Representation of the People ActExtended the vote to urban working men, roughly doubling the electorate.
- 1884Representation of the People ActExtended the county franchise on the same terms as the boroughs.
- 1911Parliament ActRemoved the Lords' veto over money bills and replaced it with a delaying power.
- 1918Representation of the People ActNear-universal male suffrage and the vote for women over 30 with a property qualification.
- 1928Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) ActEqualised the franchise at 21 for women and men.
- 1931Statute of WestminsterEnded Westminster's power to legislate for the dominions without their request.
- 1949Parliament ActCut the Lords' delaying power from two years to one.
- 1958Life Peerages ActCreated appointed life peers, remaking the composition of the second chamber.
- 1969Representation of the People ActLowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
- 1972European Communities ActGave European law effect in the United Kingdom and priority over inconsistent domestic law.
- 1998Human Rights ActMade Convention rights enforceable in domestic courts and required legislation to be read compatibly where possible.
- 1998Scotland ActCreated the Scottish Parliament and defined what is reserved to Westminster.
- 1998Government of Wales ActCreated the National Assembly for Wales.
- 1998Northern Ireland ActPut the Belfast Agreement into law and created the Assembly and the power-sharing executive.
- 1999House of Lords ActRemoved all but 92 hereditary peers from the Lords.
- 2005Constitutional Reform ActSeparated the top court from the Lords, creating the Supreme Court, and reformed the Lord Chancellor's role.
- 2011Fixed-term Parliaments Actrepealed 2022Took the power to call an early election out of the Prime Minister's hands. Repealed in 2022.
- 2018European Union (Withdrawal) ActRepealed the 1972 Act and converted retained EU law into domestic law.
- 2020European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) ActGave effect to the withdrawal agreement and the transition period.
- 2022Dissolution and Calling of Parliament ActRestored the prerogative power to dissolve Parliament.
New Zealand
10 instruments · 0.56 per decade since 1900
New Zealand is the other pure case: no single constitutional document, no upper house since 1950, and a Bill of Rights that courts may interpret around but cannot use to strike down a statute.
The instruments10 since 1852
- 1852New Zealand Constitution ActPassed at Westminster, it created representative government and the provinces.
- 1867Maori Representation ActCreated four seats reserved for Maori voters.
- 1893Electoral ActGave women the vote, the first country in the world to do so in a national election.
- 1947Statute of Westminster Adoption ActTook up the independence the 1931 Statute offered.
- 1950Legislative Council Abolition ActAbolished the upper house, leaving a unicameral Parliament.
- 1975Treaty of Waitangi ActCreated the Waitangi Tribunal to hear claims under the Treaty.
- 1986Constitution ActRepealed the 1852 Act and gathered the core rules of government into one statute.
- 1990New Zealand Bill of Rights ActSet out civil and political rights, without the power to strike down legislation.
- 1993Electoral ActReplaced first past the post with mixed-member proportional representation, after a referendum.
- 2003Supreme Court ActEnded appeals to the Privy Council and created a domestic Supreme Court.
Counted as constitutional: statutes that condition the relationship between citizen and state in a general way or alter fundamental rights, which is the sense the courts use, plus the landmark extensions of the franchise. A count of these is not the same measure as an amendment rate, and the two are not compared above.
How long a constitution lasts
Measured across all 758 systems since 1789, counted as dead only when a later one replaced it.
How this is measured
Survival
Half of all constitutions are gone within 14 years.
- 5 yrs77%
- 10 yrs60%
- 25 yrs36%
- 50 yrs23%
- 100 yrs12%
Age protects
Chance of lasting another twenty years, given how long it has already stood. Unlike a machine, a constitution grows safer with age.
- age 041%
- age 1054%
- age 2569%
- age 5070%
- age 10092%
Constitutions have become much harder to kill
| Written | Constitutions | Median life | Reached 20 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1789-1899 | 198 | 9 yrs | 32% |
| 1900-1945 | 116 | 12 yrs | 29% |
| 1946-1989 | 287 | 15 yrs | 40% |
| 1990-2025 | 157 | not yet reached | 64% |
More than half the constitutions written since 1990 are still standing, so their median life cannot be calculated yet. One written today is about twice as likely to see its twentieth birthday as one written in the nineteenth century.
The ones that bend, last
Among constitutions that survived their first ten years, those amended during that decade went on to last a median of 25 more years, against 16 for those left untouched (271 against 193 cases). A constitution that cannot be adjusted is not protected by its rigidity. It is endangered by it.
What this page can and cannot tell you
The source records every country in every year up to 2019. From 2020 it records constitutional events only, so a country with nothing listed since then has had no recorded change, rather than no data. 99 of the 196 countries here have done something constitutional since 2020, including thirteen that replaced their constitution outright. What the page cannot tell you is whether an event has gone unrecorded, which is why each row shows the year it last changed rather than claiming a state of affairs today.
There is also no forecast of how long any particular constitution will last. One was built and tested against the record: asked in 1999 how many of the world's constitutions would still stand in 2019, it said 92 and the answer was 135. A model that calibrates on the nineteenth century and expects collapse in the present is not a forecast, so it is not on this page.
There is deliberately no rigidity ranking here. A constitution can set out an elaborate amendment procedure and still be rewritten at will, and several are. Counting what was actually amended says more than scoring what the clause promises.
Data: Elkins, Zachary and Tom Ginsburg. 2026. Chronology of Constitutional Events, Version 6.0. Comparative Constitutions Project. Elkins, Zachary and Tom Ginsburg. 2025. Characteristics of National Constitutions, Version 5.0. Comparative Constitutions Project. comparativeconstitutionsproject.org. Built 2026-09-01.