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Legislative Checks on Government Index in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Legislative Checks on Government Index was 0.956 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.956
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
7th
of 174 countries
All-time high
0.956
in 2017
All-time low
0.128
in 1918
Years of data
188
1838–2025

Legislative Checks on Government Index in Costa Rica, 1838–2025

0.20.40.60.81183819312025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, legislative checks on government index in Costa Rica stood at 0.956. That is the highest value across all 188 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, legislative checks on government index in Costa Rica peaked at 0.956 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.128, in 1918.

Costa Rica ranks 7th of 174 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 188 years of available data.

Legislative Checks on Government Index in Costa Rica, year by year

Year Value Change
1838 0.389 —
1839 0.389 +0.0%
1840 0.389 +0.0%
1841 0.389 +0.0%
1842 0.389 +0.0%
1843 0.389 +0.0%
1844 0.389 +0.0%
1845 0.389 +0.0%
1846 0.389 +0.0%
1847 0.389 +0.0%
1848 0.389 +0.0%
1849 0.389 +0.0%
1850 0.389 +0.0%
1851 0.389 +0.0%
1852 0.389 +0.0%
1853 0.389 +0.0%
1854 0.389 +0.0%
1855 0.389 +0.0%
1856 0.389 +0.0%
1857 0.389 +0.0%
1858 0.389 +0.0%
1859 0.389 +0.0%
1860 0.389 +0.0%
1861 0.389 +0.0%
1862 0.389 +0.0%
1863 0.389 +0.0%
1864 0.389 +0.0%
1865 0.389 +0.0%
1866 0.389 +0.0%
1867 0.389 +0.0%
1868 0.389 +0.0%
1869 0.389 +0.0%
1870 0.389 +0.0%
1871 0.389 +0.0%
1872 0.389 +0.0%
1873 0.389 +0.0%
1874 0.389 +0.0%
1875 0.389 +0.0%
1876 0.389 +0.0%
1877 0.389 +0.0%
1878 0.389 +0.0%
1879 0.389 +0.0%
1880 0.389 +0.0%
1881 0.389 +0.0%
1882 0.389 +0.0%
1883 0.389 +0.0%
1884 0.389 +0.0%
1885 0.389 +0.0%
1886 0.389 +0.0%
1887 0.389 +0.0%
1888 0.389 +0.0%
1889 0.389 +0.0%
1890 0.478 +22.9%
1891 0.478 +0.0%
1892 0.478 +0.0%
1893 0.478 +0.0%
1894 0.478 +0.0%
1895 0.468 -2.1%
1896 0.468 +0.0%
1897 0.468 +0.0%
1898 0.468 +0.0%
1899 0.468 +0.0%
1900 0.468 +0.0%
1901 0.468 +0.0%
1902 0.487 +4.1%
1903 0.487 +0.0%
1904 0.487 +0.0%
1905 0.487 +0.0%
1906 0.487 +0.0%
1907 0.487 +0.0%
1908 0.487 +0.0%
1909 0.487 +0.0%
1910 0.487 +0.0%
1911 0.487 +0.0%
1912 0.487 +0.0%
1913 0.487 +0.0%
1914 0.487 +0.0%
1915 0.487 +0.0%
1916 0.487 +0.0%
1917 0.487 +0.0%
1918 0.128 -73.7%
1919 0.128 +0.0%
1920 0.504 +293.8%
1921 0.504 +0.0%
1922 0.504 +0.0%
1923 0.504 +0.0%
1924 0.504 +0.0%
1925 0.504 +0.0%
1926 0.504 +0.0%
1927 0.504 +0.0%
1928 0.504 +0.0%
1929 0.504 +0.0%
1930 0.535 +6.2%
1931 0.535 +0.0%
1932 0.535 +0.0%
1933 0.535 +0.0%
1934 0.535 +0.0%
1935 0.535 +0.0%
1936 0.535 +0.0%
1937 0.535 +0.0%
1938 0.535 +0.0%
1939 0.535 +0.0%
1940 0.625 +16.8%
1941 0.625 +0.0%
1942 0.625 +0.0%
1943 0.625 +0.0%
1944 0.625 +0.0%
1945 0.625 +0.0%
1946 0.625 +0.0%
1947 0.625 +0.0%
1948 0.55 -12.0%
1949 0.478 -13.1%
1950 0.816 +70.7%
1951 0.816 +0.0%
1952 0.816 +0.0%
1953 0.816 +0.0%
1954 0.829 +1.6%
1955 0.829 +0.0%
1956 0.829 +0.0%
1957 0.829 +0.0%
1958 0.829 +0.0%
1959 0.847 +2.2%
1960 0.847 +0.0%
1961 0.847 +0.0%
1962 0.847 +0.0%
1963 0.847 +0.0%
1964 0.847 +0.0%
1965 0.847 +0.0%
1966 0.847 +0.0%
1967 0.847 +0.0%
1968 0.847 +0.0%
1969 0.847 +0.0%
1970 0.861 +1.7%
1971 0.861 +0.0%
1972 0.861 +0.0%
1973 0.861 +0.0%
1974 0.861 +0.0%
1975 0.861 +0.0%
1976 0.861 +0.0%
1977 0.861 +0.0%
1978 0.861 +0.0%
1979 0.874 +1.5%
1980 0.895 +2.4%
1981 0.895 +0.0%
1982 0.895 +0.0%
1983 0.895 +0.0%
1984 0.895 +0.0%
1985 0.895 +0.0%
1986 0.895 +0.0%
1987 0.895 +0.0%
1988 0.895 +0.0%
1989 0.909 +1.6%
1990 0.94 +3.4%
1991 0.94 +0.0%
1992 0.94 +0.0%
1993 0.94 +0.0%
1994 0.931 -1.0%
1995 0.931 +0.0%
1996 0.931 +0.0%
1997 0.931 +0.0%
1998 0.946 +1.6%
1999 0.946 +0.0%
2000 0.946 +0.0%
2001 0.946 +0.0%
2002 0.946 +0.0%
2003 0.946 +0.0%
2004 0.946 +0.0%
2005 0.946 +0.0%
2006 0.946 +0.0%
2007 0.946 +0.0%
2008 0.946 +0.0%
2009 0.946 +0.0%
2010 0.946 +0.0%
2011 0.946 +0.0%
2012 0.946 +0.0%
2013 0.941 -0.5%
2014 0.948 +0.7%
2015 0.948 +0.0%
2016 0.948 +0.0%
2017 0.956 +0.8%
2018 0.956 +0.0%
2019 0.956 +0.0%
2020 0.956 +0.0%
2021 0.956 +0.0%
2022 0.956 +0.0%
2023 0.956 +0.0%
2024 0.956 +0.0%
2025 0.956 +0.0%

Costa Rica compared with similar countries

  • Costa Rica's 0.956 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.871, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
  • Costa Rica's 0.956 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.66, 1.4× the median. (25 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1830s 0.389 0.389 0.389 2
1840s 0.389 0.389 0.389 10
1850s 0.389 0.389 0.389 10
1860s 0.389 0.389 0.389 10
1870s 0.389 0.389 0.389 10
1880s 0.389 0.389 0.389 10
1890s 0.473 0.468 0.478 10
1900s 0.4832 0.468 0.487 10
1910s 0.4152 0.128 0.487 10
1920s 0.504 0.504 0.504 10
1930s 0.535 0.535 0.535 10
1940s 0.6028 0.478 0.625 10
1950s 0.8256 0.816 0.847 10
1960s 0.847 0.847 0.847 10
1970s 0.8623 0.861 0.874 10
1980s 0.8964 0.895 0.909 10
1990s 0.9376 0.931 0.946 10
2000s 0.946 0.946 0.946 10
2010s 0.9491 0.941 0.956 10
2020s 0.956 0.956 0.956 6

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 4 Denmark 0.977 compare
  2. 5 Chile 0.976 compare
  3. 6 Finland 0.965 compare
  4. 7 Netherlands 0.956 compare
  5. 7 Switzerland 0.956 compare
  6. 10 United Kingdom 0.95 compare

See the full ranking of 174 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is legislative checks on government index in Costa Rica?
Legislative checks on government index in Costa Rica was 0.956 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest legislative checks on government index recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 0.956 in 2017.
What is the lowest legislative checks on government index recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 0.128 in 1918.
How does Costa Rica rank for legislative checks on government index?
Costa Rica ranks 7th out of 174 countries with data for 2025.
Is legislative checks on government index rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Legislative Checks on Government Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Legislative Checks on Government Index in Costa Rica. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/legislative-constraints-on-the-executive-index/costa-rica/

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About this data

Indicator
Legislative Checks on Government Index
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
174 places, 23,601 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Central estimate of the extent to which the legislature, including opposition parties, questions executive officials and oversees and investigates the executive.