Costa Rica vs Guatemala: Electoral democracy (V-Dem)
Costa Rica
2
in 2025
Guatemala
2
in 2025
Costa Rica rank
1st
Guatemala rank
1st
Electoral democracy (V-Dem) over time
- Costa Rica
- Guatemala
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 2 against 2 in Guatemala, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 185 shared years of data; in 1838 it was Guatemala ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 1st and Guatemala ranks 1st of 176 countries.
Across the 20 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 11 and Guatemala in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Guatemala | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1830s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1840s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1850s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1860s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1880s | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | Costa Rica |
| 1890s | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | Guatemala |
| 1900s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1910s | 0.8 | 0 | 0.8 | Costa Rica |
| 1920s | 1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | Costa Rica |
| 1930s | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Costa Rica |
| 1940s | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | Costa Rica |
| 1950s | 2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 2 | 1 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1980s | 2 | 0.6 | 1.4 | Costa Rica |
| 1990s | 2 | 1 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 2000s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher electoral democracy, Costa Rica or Guatemala?
- Costa Rica, at 2 against 2 in Guatemala as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electoral democracy between Costa Rica and Guatemala?
- 0, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Guatemala?
- 185 years are reported by both, from 1838 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and Guatemala rank globally for electoral democracy?
- Costa Rica ranks 1st and Guatemala ranks 1st of 176 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Electoral democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country using the Regimes of the World classification by political scientists Anna Lührmann, Marcus Tannenberg and Staffan Lindberg.