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Political civil liberties index in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Political civil liberties index was 0.931 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
0.931
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
17th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.979
in 2010
All-time low
0.628
in 1917
Years of data
188
1838–2025

Political civil liberties index in Costa Rica, 1838–2025

00.20.40.60.81183819312025

Source: Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, political civil liberties index in Costa Rica stood at 0.931.

The figure is down 4.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, political civil liberties index in Costa Rica peaked at 0.979 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.628, in 1917.

That places Costa Rica 17th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

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

Political civil liberties index in Costa Rica, year by year

Year Value Change
1838 0.708 —
1839 0.708 +0.0%
1840 0.708 +0.0%
1841 0.708 +0.0%
1842 0.694 -2.0%
1843 0.703 +1.3%
1844 0.703 +0.0%
1845 0.703 +0.0%
1846 0.703 +0.0%
1847 0.703 +0.0%
1848 0.703 +0.0%
1849 0.703 +0.0%
1850 0.703 +0.0%
1851 0.703 +0.0%
1852 0.703 +0.0%
1853 0.703 +0.0%
1854 0.703 +0.0%
1855 0.703 +0.0%
1856 0.703 +0.0%
1857 0.703 +0.0%
1858 0.703 +0.0%
1859 0.703 +0.0%
1860 0.703 +0.0%
1861 0.703 +0.0%
1862 0.703 +0.0%
1863 0.703 +0.0%
1864 0.703 +0.0%
1865 0.703 +0.0%
1866 0.703 +0.0%
1867 0.703 +0.0%
1868 0.703 +0.0%
1869 0.703 +0.0%
1870 0.703 +0.0%
1871 0.703 +0.0%
1872 0.703 +0.0%
1873 0.703 +0.0%
1874 0.703 +0.0%
1875 0.703 +0.0%
1876 0.703 +0.0%
1877 0.703 +0.0%
1878 0.703 +0.0%
1879 0.703 +0.0%
1880 0.7 -0.4%
1881 0.7 +0.0%
1882 0.7 +0.0%
1883 0.723 +3.3%
1884 0.723 +0.0%
1885 0.723 +0.0%
1886 0.723 +0.0%
1887 0.723 +0.0%
1888 0.723 +0.0%
1889 0.723 +0.0%
1890 0.723 +0.0%
1891 0.723 +0.0%
1892 0.723 +0.0%
1893 0.723 +0.0%
1894 0.723 +0.0%
1895 0.727 +0.6%
1896 0.727 +0.0%
1897 0.727 +0.0%
1898 0.727 +0.0%
1899 0.727 +0.0%
1900 0.727 +0.0%
1901 0.727 +0.0%
1902 0.727 +0.0%
1903 0.727 +0.0%
1904 0.727 +0.0%
1905 0.727 +0.0%
1906 0.727 +0.0%
1907 0.727 +0.0%
1908 0.727 +0.0%
1909 0.727 +0.0%
1910 0.727 +0.0%
1911 0.727 +0.0%
1912 0.727 +0.0%
1913 0.727 +0.0%
1914 0.727 +0.0%
1915 0.727 +0.0%
1916 0.727 +0.0%
1917 0.628 -13.6%
1918 0.628 +0.0%
1919 0.628 +0.0%
1920 0.736 +17.2%
1921 0.736 +0.0%
1922 0.736 +0.0%
1923 0.736 +0.0%
1924 0.736 +0.0%
1925 0.736 +0.0%
1926 0.736 +0.0%
1927 0.736 +0.0%
1928 0.736 +0.0%
1929 0.733 -0.4%
1930 0.725 -1.1%
1931 0.734 +1.2%
1932 0.734 +0.0%
1933 0.734 +0.0%
1934 0.734 +0.0%
1935 0.734 +0.0%
1936 0.696 -5.2%
1937 0.696 +0.0%
1938 0.696 +0.0%
1939 0.696 +0.0%
1940 0.686 -1.4%
1941 0.689 +0.4%
1942 0.689 +0.0%
1943 0.682 -1.0%
1944 0.682 +0.0%
1945 0.683 +0.1%
1946 0.683 +0.0%
1947 0.683 +0.0%
1948 0.641 -6.1%
1949 0.717 +11.9%
1950 0.85 +18.5%
1951 0.85 +0.0%
1952 0.856 +0.7%
1953 0.865 +1.1%
1954 0.87 +0.6%
1955 0.87 +0.0%
1956 0.87 +0.0%
1957 0.87 +0.0%
1958 0.87 +0.0%
1959 0.896 +3.0%
1960 0.884 -1.3%
1961 0.884 +0.0%
1962 0.884 +0.0%
1963 0.884 +0.0%
1964 0.884 +0.0%
1965 0.884 +0.0%
1966 0.884 +0.0%
1967 0.884 +0.0%
1968 0.884 +0.0%
1969 0.884 +0.0%
1970 0.892 +0.9%
1971 0.897 +0.6%
1972 0.897 +0.0%
1973 0.897 +0.0%
1974 0.897 +0.0%
1975 0.926 +3.2%
1976 0.929 +0.3%
1977 0.935 +0.6%
1978 0.944 +1.0%
1979 0.944 +0.0%
1980 0.967 +2.4%
1981 0.967 +0.0%
1982 0.972 +0.5%
1983 0.972 +0.0%
1984 0.972 +0.0%
1985 0.972 +0.0%
1986 0.972 +0.0%
1987 0.972 +0.0%
1988 0.976 +0.4%
1989 0.976 +0.0%
1990 0.978 +0.2%
1991 0.978 +0.0%
1992 0.978 +0.0%
1993 0.978 +0.0%
1994 0.978 +0.0%
1995 0.978 +0.0%
1996 0.978 +0.0%
1997 0.978 +0.0%
1998 0.978 +0.0%
1999 0.978 +0.0%
2000 0.978 +0.0%
2001 0.978 +0.0%
2002 0.978 +0.0%
2003 0.978 +0.0%
2004 0.977 -0.1%
2005 0.977 +0.0%
2006 0.977 +0.0%
2007 0.977 +0.0%
2008 0.977 +0.0%
2009 0.977 +0.0%
2010 0.979 +0.2%
2011 0.979 +0.0%
2012 0.979 +0.0%
2013 0.976 -0.3%
2014 0.975 -0.1%
2015 0.972 -0.3%
2016 0.971 -0.1%
2017 0.965 -0.6%
2018 0.958 -0.7%
2019 0.961 +0.3%
2020 0.96 -0.1%
2021 0.96 +0.0%
2022 0.94 -2.1%
2023 0.931 -1.0%
2024 0.931 +0.0%
2025 0.931 +0.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1830s 0.708 0.708 0.708 2
1840s 0.7031 0.694 0.708 10
1850s 0.703 0.703 0.703 10
1860s 0.703 0.703 0.703 10
1870s 0.703 0.703 0.703 10
1880s 0.7161 0.7 0.723 10
1890s 0.725 0.723 0.727 10
1900s 0.727 0.727 0.727 10
1910s 0.6973 0.628 0.727 10
1920s 0.7357 0.733 0.736 10
1930s 0.7179 0.696 0.734 10
1940s 0.6835 0.641 0.717 10
1950s 0.8667 0.85 0.896 10
1960s 0.884 0.884 0.884 10
1970s 0.9158 0.892 0.944 10
1980s 0.9718 0.967 0.976 10
1990s 0.978 0.978 0.978 10
2000s 0.9774 0.977 0.978 10
2010s 0.9715 0.958 0.979 10
2020s 0.9422 0.931 0.96 6

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 15 Czechia 0.934 compare
  2. 16 Brazil 0.932 compare
  3. 18 Iceland 0.93 compare
  4. 18 Poland 0.93 compare
  5. 20 New Zealand 0.929 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is political civil liberties index in Costa Rica?
Political civil liberties index in Costa Rica was 0.931 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
What is the highest political civil liberties index recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 0.979 in 2010.
What is the lowest political civil liberties index recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 0.628 in 1917.
How does Costa Rica rank for political civil liberties index?
Costa Rica ranks 17th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is political civil liberties index rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is down 4.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Political civil liberties index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Political civil liberties index in Costa Rica. Statizoid, drawing on Our World in Data. Retrieved 24 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/political-civil-liberties-index/costa-rica/

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About this data

Indicator
Political civil liberties index
Source
Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 30,211 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed