Costa Rica vs South Korea: Electoral democracy (V-Dem)
Costa Rica
2
in 2025
South Korea
2
in 2025
Costa Rica rank
1st
South Korea rank
1st
Electoral democracy (V-Dem) over time
- Costa Rica
- South Korea
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 2 against 2 in South Korea, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 188 shared years of data; in 1838 it was South Korea ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 1st and South Korea ranks 1st of 176 countries.
Costa Rica has averaged higher in every one of the 20 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | South Korea | 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 | 0.1 | Costa Rica |
| 1900s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1910s | 0.8 | 0 | 0.8 | Costa Rica |
| 1920s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1930s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1940s | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.6 | Costa Rica |
| 1950s | 2 | 1 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 2 | 0.9 | 1.1 | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 2 | 1 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1980s | 2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | Costa Rica |
| 1990s | 2 | 2 | 0 | — |
| 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 South Korea?
- Costa Rica, at 2 against 2 in South Korea as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electoral democracy between Costa Rica and South Korea?
- 0, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and South Korea?
- 188 years are reported by both, from 1838 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and South Korea rank globally for electoral democracy?
- Costa Rica ranks 1st and South Korea 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.