Costa Rica vs New Zealand: Democracy
Costa Rica
4
in 2025
New Zealand
4
in 2025
Costa Rica rank
17th
New Zealand rank
17th
Democracy over time
- Costa Rica
- New Zealand
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 4 against 4 in New Zealand, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was New Zealand ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 17th and New Zealand ranks 17th of 175 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 4 and New Zealand in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | New Zealand | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 | 4 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1910s | 1 | 4 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1920s | 1.5 | 4 | 2.5 | New Zealand |
| 1930s | 1 | 4 | 3 | New Zealand |
| 1940s | 0.9 | 4 | 3.1 | New Zealand |
| 1950s | 4.5 | 4 | 0.5 | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 4.4 | 4 | 0.4 | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 5 | 4 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1980s | 4.3 | 4 | 0.3 | Costa Rica |
| 1990s | 4 | 4 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 4 | 4 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 4 | 4 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 4 | 4 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, Costa Rica or New Zealand?
- Costa Rica, at 4 against 4 in New Zealand as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Costa Rica and New Zealand?
- 0, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and New Zealand?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and New Zealand rank globally for democracy?
- Costa Rica ranks 17th and New Zealand ranks 17th of 175 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Political regime of a country using the classification by the Episodes of Regime Transformation-project. It distinguishes between hardening autocracies (score 0), stable autocracies (score 1), liberalizing autocracies (score 2), eroding democracies (score 3), stable democracies (score 4), and deepening democracies (score 5).