Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate was 0.2869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
0.2869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Change on year
down 14.1%
World rank
77th
of 205 countries
All-time high
0.4335 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2012
All-time low
-0.0272 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 1998
Years of data
26
1996–2024

Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Costa Rica, 1996–2024

00.10.20.30.41996201020241996: -0.024 approx. -2.5 to +2.51998: -0.027 approx. -2.5 to +2.52000: 0.109 approx. -2.5 to +2.52002: 0.2 approx. -2.5 to +2.52003: 0.193 approx. -2.5 to +2.52004: 0.266 approx. -2.5 to +2.52005: 0.231 approx. -2.5 to +2.52006: 0.168 approx. -2.5 to +2.52007: 0.244 approx. -2.5 to +2.52008: 0.276 approx. -2.5 to +2.52009: 0.402 approx. -2.5 to +2.52010: 0.403 approx. -2.5 to +2.52011: 0.364 approx. -2.5 to +2.52012: 0.434 approx. -2.5 to +2.52013: 0.338 approx. -2.5 to +2.52014: 0.367 approx. -2.5 to +2.52015: 0.36 approx. -2.5 to +2.52016: 0.316 approx. -2.5 to +2.52017: 0.334 approx. -2.5 to +2.52018: 0.353 approx. -2.5 to +2.52019: 0.304 approx. -2.5 to +2.52020: 0.226 approx. -2.5 to +2.52021: 0.271 approx. -2.5 to +2.52022: 0.121 approx. -2.5 to +2.52023: 0.334 approx. -2.5 to +2.52024: 0.287 approx. -2.5 to +2.5

Source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Measured in approx. -2.5 to +2.5.

Analysis

The most recent figure for government effectiveness - governance estimate in Costa Rica is 0.2869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, measured in 2024.

The figure is down 14.1% on the previous year and down 21.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, government effectiveness - governance estimate in Costa Rica peaked at 0.4335 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2012 and was at its lowest, -0.0272 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 1998.

That places Costa Rica 77th out of 205 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.

Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Costa Rica, year by year

Annual values for Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Costa Rica, 1996 to 2024.
Year approx. -2.5 to +2.5 Change
1996 -0.0237 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 —
1998 -0.0272 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +14.4%
2000 0.1089 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -501.1%
2002 0.2005 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +84.1%
2003 0.1933 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.6%
2004 0.2662 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +37.7%
2005 0.2312 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -13.1%
2006 0.1677 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -27.5%
2007 0.2444 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +45.7%
2008 0.2764 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +13.1%
2009 0.4024 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +45.6%
2010 0.4027 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +0.1%
2011 0.3641 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -9.6%
2012 0.4335 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +19.1%
2013 0.3383 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -22.0%
2014 0.367 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +8.5%
2015 0.3597 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -2.0%
2016 0.3155 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -12.3%
2017 0.3339 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +5.8%
2018 0.3529 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +5.7%
2019 0.3044 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -13.7%
2020 0.2258 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -25.8%
2021 0.2715 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +20.2%
2022 0.1212 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -55.3%
2023 0.3341 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +175.6%
2024 0.2869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -14.1%

Costa Rica compared with similar countries

  • Costa Rica's 0.2869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is below the median for high income countries, which is 1.09 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 26% of the median. (73 countries reporting)
  • Costa Rica's 0.2869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.0201 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, 14.2× the median. (37 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
2000 +501.1% -0.0272 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.1089 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
2023 +175.6% 0.1212 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.3341 approx. -2.5 to +2.5

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s -0.0254 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.0272 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.0237 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 2
2000s 0.2323 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.1089 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.4024 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 9
2010s 0.3572 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.3044 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.4335 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 10
2020s 0.2479 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.1212 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.3341 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 5

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 74 Rwanda 0.3489 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  2. 75 Kuwait 0.3279 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  3. 76 Albania 0.3123 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  4. 78 Saint Lucia 0.2682 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  5. 78 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.2682 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  6. 80 Moldova 0.2576 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare

See the full ranking of 205 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is government effectiveness - governance estimate in Costa Rica?
Government effectiveness - governance estimate in Costa Rica was 0.2869 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2024, according to The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG).
What is the highest government effectiveness - governance estimate recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 0.4335 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2012.
What is the lowest government effectiveness - governance estimate recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was -0.0272 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 1998.
How does Costa Rica rank for government effectiveness - governance estimate?
Costa Rica ranks 77th out of 205 countries with data for 2024.
Is government effectiveness - governance estimate rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is down 21.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), published as part of Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Costa Rica. Statizoid, drawing on The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG). Retrieved 29 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/government-effectiveness-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/costa-rica/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/government-effectiveness-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/costa-rica/">Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate in Costa Rica</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5)
Unit
approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Source
The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
205 places, 5,161 data points, 1996–2024
Last refreshed

Government Effectiveness (GE) captures perceptions of the quality of public services, the civil service, policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of a government’s decisions. Governance estimate from the aggregation model, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) standard error. The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance estimate is based. The standard error indicates the precision of the governance estimate. Larger values indicate less precise estimates. A 90% confidence interval for the governance estimate is given by the estimate +/- 1.64 times the standard error.