2026-02-26 · percent of countries
Fragile states score lowest on effectiveness
Peacebuilding targets capacity, not just violence.
Ceasefires can stop the shooting, but only capable states keep peace from unraveling — which is why peacebuilding increasingly targets capacity, not just violence. In the 2026 Worldwide Governance Indicators, fragile states account for 48% of countries with low government-effectiveness scores, with Asia & Pacific at 27%, Africa at 14.6%, and the Americas at 10.4%.
1 cell = 0.1 percent of countries (0.1% of country count) · 1,000 cells
Context
Government effectiveness is the Worldwide Governance Indicators' gauge of whether a state can deliver services, staff a competent civil service, and implement policy — precisely the machinery peacebuilding programs try to rebuild. Fragile states anchor its low end, but low scores stretch well beyond them, across Asia & Pacific, Africa, and the Americas.
Budgets show the same capacity gap from the spending side: across most of Africa, government employee pay absorbs 30–50% of central government spending, versus 5–20% in Europe, according to Our World in Data. High-income governments, meanwhile, spend far more per person and direct a larger share toward social protection and health.
Thin capacity also pushes states to share the load: the value of public-private infrastructure partnerships in low and middle-income countries more than doubled between 2005 and 2010, with electricity and roads — notably in South Asia and Latin America — driving the trend.
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators via OWID.
Share and export
Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-02-26-pol-gov-effect-fragile