Democracy in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Democracy was 9 in 2025. ◆ Volatile
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.
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.