State Capacity Index in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: State Capacity Index was 0.8696 in 2015. ▲ Rising
State Capacity Index in Costa Rica, 1960–2015
Source: Jonathan Hanson and Rachel Sigman (2021); Population based on various sources (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 0.8696 for state capacity index in 2015.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 8.7% on the previous year and up 9.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, state capacity index in Costa Rica peaked at 0.9366 in 2001 and was at its lowest, 0.3709, in 1983.
That places Costa Rica 50th out of 165 countries with data for 2015, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 56 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.6119 | 0.4978 | 0.6742 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.519 | 0.4329 | 0.7153 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.4686 | 0.3709 | 0.5615 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.6706 | 0.5497 | 0.7716 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8921 | 0.7947 | 0.9366 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8253 | 0.7958 | 0.8696 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More reference data data for Costa Rica
- Spring temperature anomalies 0.2864 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.8623 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.1052 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.3865 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 0.3144 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 143 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is state capacity index in Costa Rica?
- State capacity index in Costa Rica was 0.8696 in 2015, according to Jonathan Hanson and Rachel Sigman (2021); Population based on various sources (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest state capacity index recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9366 in 2001.
- What is the lowest state capacity index recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3709 in 1983.
- How does Costa Rica rank for state capacity index?
- Costa Rica ranks 50th out of 165 countries with data for 2015.
- Is state capacity index rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Jonathan Hanson and Rachel Sigman (2021); Population based on various sources (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of State Capacity Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measures state capacity by combining 21 different indicators related to three key dimensions: extractive capacity, coercive capacity, and administrative capacity. Higher values indicate greater state capacity.