Democracy in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Democracy was 9 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Latest (2025)
9
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 176 countries
All-time high
9
in 1989
All-time low
0
in 1838
Years of data
187
1838–2025
Democracy in Costa Rica, 1838–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, democracy in Costa Rica stood at 9. That is the highest value across all 187 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in Costa Rica peaked at 9 in 1989 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1838.
Costa Rica ranks 1st of 176 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Democracy in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1838 | 0 | — |
| 1839 | 0 | — |
| 1840 | 0 | — |
| 1841 | 0 | — |
| 1842 | 0 | — |
| 1843 | 0 | — |
| 1844 | 0 | — |
| 1845 | 0 | — |
| 1846 | 0 | — |
| 1847 | 1 | — |
| 1848 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1849 | 0 | — |
| 1850 | 0 | — |
| 1851 | 0 | — |
| 1852 | 0 | — |
| 1853 | 0 | — |
| 1854 | 0 | — |
| 1855 | 0 | — |
| 1856 | 0 | — |
| 1857 | 0 | — |
| 1858 | 0 | — |
| 1859 | 0 | — |
| 1860 | 0 | — |
| 1861 | 0 | — |
| 1862 | 0 | — |
| 1863 | 0 | — |
| 1864 | 0 | — |
| 1865 | 0 | — |
| 1866 | 0 | — |
| 1867 | 0 | — |
| 1868 | 0 | — |
| 1869 | 0 | — |
| 1870 | 0 | — |
| 1871 | 0 | — |
| 1872 | 0 | — |
| 1873 | 0 | — |
| 1874 | 0 | — |
| 1875 | 0 | — |
| 1876 | 0 | — |
| 1877 | 0 | — |
| 1878 | 0 | — |
| 1879 | 0 | — |
| 1880 | 0 | — |
| 1881 | 1 | — |
| 1882 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1883 | 0 | — |
| 1884 | 0 | — |
| 1885 | 1 | — |
| 1886 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1887 | 0 | — |
| 1888 | 0 | — |
| 1889 | 3 | — |
| 1890 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1891 | 0 | — |
| 1892 | 0 | — |
| 1893 | 0 | — |
| 1894 | 3 | — |
| 1895 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1896 | 0 | — |
| 1897 | 0 | — |
| 1898 | 0 | — |
| 1899 | 0 | — |
| 1900 | 3 | — |
| 1901 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 2 | -33.3% |
| 1910 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 2 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 3 | +50.0% |
| 1914 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1920 | 3 | — |
| 1921 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 3 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0 | -100.0% |
| 1949 | 0 | — |
| 1950 | 5 | — |
| 1951 | 7 | +40.0% |
| 1952 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 7 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 9 | +28.6% |
| 1990 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 9 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 9 | +0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 9 is above the median for high income countries, which is 8, 1.1× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 9 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 6, 1.5× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1830s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1840s | 0.1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1850s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1860s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1870s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 1880s | 0.5 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1890s | 0.3 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1900s | 2.9 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| 1910s | 2.33 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 1920s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1930s | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1940s | 2.4 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 1950s | 6.8 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| 1960s | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| 1970s | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| 1980s | 7.2 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| 1990s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 2000s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 2010s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 2020s | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 1 Australia 9 compare
- 1 Belgium 9 compare
- 1 Czechia 9 compare
- 1 Denmark 9 compare
- 1 Estonia 9 compare
- 1 Finland 9 compare
- 1 Germany 9 compare
- 1 Iceland 9 compare
- 1 Ireland 9 compare
- 1 Japan 9 compare
- 1 Latvia 9 compare
- 1 Luxembourg 9 compare
- 1 Netherlands 9 compare
- 1 New Zealand 9 compare
- 1 Norway 9 compare
- 1 Seychelles 9 compare
- 1 South Korea 9 compare
- 1 Spain 9 compare
- 1 Sweden 9 compare
- 1 Switzerland 9 compare
- 1 Taiwan 9 compare
More reference data data for Costa Rica
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2987 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.406 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0167 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.3161 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.24 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 5.91 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0907 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in Costa Rica?
- Democracy in Costa Rica was 9 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 9 in 1989.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1838.
- How does Costa Rica rank for democracy?
- Costa Rica ranks 1st out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- 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 Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 187 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg, including ambiguous categories.