A representative survey of over five billion people across 30 nations has shown that support for democratic rule is low in Pakistan compared to other countries.

The survey, conducted by the Open Society Foundation, reached 36,000 people across 30 countries representing over 5.5 billion people.

Overall, the survey found that 86% of people consider democracy to be a better form of government. However, 20% believe that authoritarian rule can really deliver solutions to problems faced by people.

Out of the 30 countries, Pakistan stood 28th in terms of its preference for desire to live under democratic rule.

The survey ranked each country’s score of importance given to democracy out of 100. The average came to 86 points.

Out of the 30 countries, 18 scored above average. Nigeria and Turkey scored the highest with 96. Other countries above average included China, Bangladesh, Egypt, Mexico and Italy, among others.

Germany stood right at the average with exactly 86 points. However, 11 countries fell below the average score including Pakistan. Surprisingly, the countries that scored below average include France and the United States as well.

However, Pakistan scored a meagre 79 points to stand at 28 out of 30 countries. Only Russia and Saudi Arabia scored worse than Pakistan.

The survey also showed that attitudes towards democracy vary with age.

The inclination towards supporting military rule is higher among younger people. The survey showed that 42% of people between the ages of 18-35 said they preferred military or authoritarian rule.

This is especially relevant to Pakistan, where a large section of the population and voters is made up of youth.

The preference for army rule drops with age, with only 33% preferring it between the ages of 36-55 and only 20% preferring it over the age of 55.

When it comes to human rights, though, Pakistanis ranked 4th, beating India, which stood at 5th place.

Bangladesh topped the list of the nations supporting human rights.