Costa Rica vs South Africa: Democracy
Costa Rica
4
in 2025
South Africa
4
in 2025
Costa Rica rank
17th
South Africa rank
17th
Democracy over time
- Costa Rica
- South Africa
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 4 against 4 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was South Africa ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 17th and South Africa ranks 17th of 175 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 6 and South Africa in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 1.5 | 1 | 0.5 | Costa Rica |
| 1930s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 0.9 | 1 | 0.1 | South Africa |
| 1950s | 4.5 | 1 | 3.5 | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 4.4 | 1 | 3.4 | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 5 | 1 | 4 | Costa Rica |
| 1980s | 4.3 | 1.1 | 3.2 | Costa Rica |
| 1990s | 4 | 3.5 | 0.5 | Costa Rica |
| 2000s | 4 | 4.6 | 0.6 | South Africa |
| 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 South Africa?
- Costa Rica, at 4 against 4 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Costa Rica and South Africa?
- 0, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and South Africa?
- 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and South Africa rank globally for democracy?
- Costa Rica ranks 17th and South Africa 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).