Costa Rica vs United States: Full democracy
Costa Rica
1
in 2025
United States
1
in 2025
Costa Rica rank
1st
United States rank
1st
Full democracy over time
- Costa Rica
- United States
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 1 against 1 in United States, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 188 shared years of data; in 1838 it was United States ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Costa Rica has averaged higher in every one of the 20 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1830s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1840s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1850s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1860s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1870s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1880s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1890s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher full democracy, Costa Rica or United States?
- Costa Rica, at 1 against 1 in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in full democracy between Costa Rica and United States?
- 0, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and United States?
- 188 years are reported by both, from 1838 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and United States rank globally for full democracy?
- Costa Rica ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 198 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Full democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Identifies if a country is a full democracy using the extended Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy (LIED+).