Government and power in Nepal

Who leads Nepal, how the World Bank's governance indicators score it, how many women sit in parliament and government, what the state spends and taxes, and the official bodies that hold power to account. System of government: Federal parliamentary republic.

Who leads Nepal?

• Head of state: Ramchandra Paudel (President of Nepal)
• Head of government: Balendra Shah (Prime Minister of Nepal)
• Foreign minister: Shisir Khanal (Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal)

Source: Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs: Public List (United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service), list dated 15 October 2026. All world leaders.

Governance scores

The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators combine surveys of households and firms with assessments by public, private and non-governmental bodies. Each score runs from 0 to 100; higher means the sources rate governance better. They measure perceptions, and each has a margin of error.

Voice and accountability

Measures how far citizens can choose their government, and freedom of expression, association and the media.

Political stability and absence of violence

Measures the likelihood of political instability or politically motivated violence, including terrorism.

Government effectiveness

Measures the quality of public services and the civil service, and how independent they are from political pressure.

Regulatory quality

Measures the government's ability to make and carry out policies that let the private sector develop.

Rule of law

Measures confidence in and respect for the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police and the courts.

Control of corruption

Measures how far public power is used for private gain, including petty and grand corruption and "capture" of the state by elites.

Official bodies that hold power in Nepal

Government

• Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers
  Publishes cabinet decisions, policies and official notices.

Parliament

• House of Representatives
  Publishes proceedings, bills and the list of members of the lower house.
• National Assembly
  Publishes proceedings, bills and the list of members of the upper house.

Elections

• Election Commission, Nepal
  Publishes voter rolls, candidate lists and official election results.

Courts

• Supreme Court of Nepal
  Publishes judgments, cause lists and the Nepal Law Reports.

Public audit

• Office of the Auditor General
  Publishes the Auditor General's annual report on federal, provincial and local government accounts.

Access to information

• National Information Commission
  Hears appeals under the Right to Information Act and publishes its orders and procedures.

Public contracts

• Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system
  Public Procurement Monitoring Office portal publishing tenders and bids of all public entities.

Laws and the official gazette

• Nepal Law Commission
  Publishes the constitution, Acts, rules and orders in force in Nepal.

Government below the national level

• Provinces (7): Elected provincial assembly and chief minister; province chief appointed by the federal government
• Districts (77): District assembly of local heads and deputies, which elects a district coordination committee; chief district officer is a federal civil servant
• Local levels (753): 6 metropolitan cities, 11 sub-metropolitan cities, 276 municipalities, 460 rural municipalities (gaunpalika): Mayor/chair and deputy mayor/vice-chair directly elected for five years; local assembly made up of the mayor/chair, deputy, ward chairs and members, plus Dalit and minority women members elected by the assembly itself
• Wards (about 6,740): Ward chair and four members directly elected; two of the four must be women, one of them a Dalit woman

How local power works in Nepal

Places in Nepal

• All 7 provinces
• The 37 largest cities
• Official statistics for Nepal

Sources

• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Voice and accountability (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 70f2804fd1e2…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Political stability and absence of violence (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1317de0c85e1…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Government effectiveness (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a775e808dc65…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Regulatory quality (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 83b57e36ff8c…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Rule of law (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0bccc3c054e8…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Control of corruption (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3b15a5340cdd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Seats held by women in national parliament (SG.GEN.PARL.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ae1dc13981a…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Women in ministerial positions (SG.GEN.MNST.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a4e448a5b8bd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Central government spending (GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 808094019f50…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Tax revenue (GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08c94b750f31…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Military spending (MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a7f6913a783b…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Armed forces personnel (MS.MIL.TOTL.P1), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fa4663c743ba…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Statistical Performance Indicator (overall score) (IQ.SPI.OVRL), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08ac7cde9129…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Births registered (SP.REG.BRTH.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 f8d443034ba7…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: People using the internet (IT.NET.USER.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0d78dc658329…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.