Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Rule of Law - Governance estimate was 0.6167 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
0.6167 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
Change on year
down 4.1%
World rank
57th
of 206 countries
All-time high
0.6676 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2022
All-time low
0.4471 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
in 2012
Years of data
26
1996–2024

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Costa Rica, 1996–2024

00.20.40.61996201020241996: 0.521 approx. -2.5 to +2.51998: 0.454 approx. -2.5 to +2.52000: 0.485 approx. -2.5 to +2.52002: 0.601 approx. -2.5 to +2.52003: 0.557 approx. -2.5 to +2.52004: 0.553 approx. -2.5 to +2.52005: 0.619 approx. -2.5 to +2.52006: 0.537 approx. -2.5 to +2.52007: 0.528 approx. -2.5 to +2.52008: 0.551 approx. -2.5 to +2.52009: 0.627 approx. -2.5 to +2.52010: 0.65 approx. -2.5 to +2.52011: 0.463 approx. -2.5 to +2.52012: 0.447 approx. -2.5 to +2.52013: 0.458 approx. -2.5 to +2.52014: 0.546 approx. -2.5 to +2.52015: 0.521 approx. -2.5 to +2.52016: 0.514 approx. -2.5 to +2.52017: 0.541 approx. -2.5 to +2.52018: 0.519 approx. -2.5 to +2.52019: 0.581 approx. -2.5 to +2.52020: 0.632 approx. -2.5 to +2.52021: 0.61 approx. -2.5 to +2.52022: 0.668 approx. -2.5 to +2.52023: 0.643 approx. -2.5 to +2.52024: 0.617 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

In 2024, rule of law - governance estimate in Costa Rica stood at 0.6167 approx. -2.5 to +2.5.

That represents a change of down 4.1% on the previous year and up 12.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law - governance estimate in Costa Rica peaked at 0.6676 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.4471 approx. -2.5 to +2.5, in 2012.

Costa Rica ranks 57th of 206 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Rule of Law - Governance estimate in Costa Rica, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) in Costa Rica, 1996 to 2024.
Year approx. -2.5 to +2.5 Change
1996 0.5214 approx. -2.5 to +2.5
1998 0.4535 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -13.0%
2000 0.4846 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +6.9%
2002 0.6007 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +24.0%
2003 0.5568 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -7.3%
2004 0.5531 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -0.7%
2005 0.6187 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +11.9%
2006 0.537 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -13.2%
2007 0.5277 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.7%
2008 0.5507 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +4.4%
2009 0.627 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +13.8%
2010 0.6499 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +3.7%
2011 0.4626 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -28.8%
2012 0.4471 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.3%
2013 0.4577 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +2.4%
2014 0.5464 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +19.4%
2015 0.5213 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.6%
2016 0.5143 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -1.3%
2017 0.5411 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +5.2%
2018 0.5186 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.2%
2019 0.5809 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +12.0%
2020 0.6317 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +8.8%
2021 0.6105 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.4%
2022 0.6676 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 +9.4%
2023 0.6431 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -3.7%
2024 0.6167 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 -4.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.4875 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.4535 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.5214 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 2
2000s 0.5618 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.4846 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.627 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 9
2010s 0.524 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.4471 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.6499 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 10
2020s 0.6339 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.6105 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 0.6676 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 5

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 54 Cyprus 0.6892 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  2. 55 Mauritius 0.6386 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  3. 56 Italy 0.6192 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  4. 58 Antigua and Barbuda 0.6018 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  5. 59 Israel 0.5997 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare
  6. 60 Seychelles 0.5969 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 compare

See the full ranking of 206 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law - governance estimate in Costa Rica?
Rule of law - governance estimate in Costa Rica was 0.6167 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 rule of law - governance estimate recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 0.6676 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2022.
What is the lowest rule of law - governance estimate recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 0.4471 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 in 2012.
How does Costa Rica rank for rule of law - governance estimate?
Costa Rica ranks 57th out of 206 countries with data for 2024.
Is rule of law - governance estimate rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 12.9%. 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 Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Rule of Law - 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 30 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-governance-estimate-approx-2-5-to-2-5/costa-rica/

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About this data

Indicator
Rule of Law - 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
206 places, 5,270 data points, 1996–2024
Last refreshed

Rule of Law (RL) captures perceptions of the extent to which agents respect and follow the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police, courts, and the likelihood of crime and violence. 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.