Citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Citizen support for democracy was 0.1553 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica, 1996–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2020, citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica stood at 0.1553.
That represents a change of up 83.7% on the previous year and down 45.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica peaked at 0.9642 in 1996 and was at its lowest, -0.1761, in 2015.
Costa Rica ranks 49th of 144 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 0.9642 | — |
| 1997 | 0.9476 | -1.7% |
| 1998 | 0.7882 | -16.8% |
| 1999 | 0.8041 | +2.0% |
| 2000 | 0.8207 | +2.1% |
| 2001 | 0.6382 | -22.2% |
| 2002 | 0.5279 | -17.3% |
| 2003 | 0.5565 | +5.4% |
| 2004 | 0.541 | -2.8% |
| 2005 | 0.6053 | +11.9% |
| 2006 | 0.6884 | +13.7% |
| 2007 | 0.6669 | -3.1% |
| 2008 | 0.4093 | -38.6% |
| 2009 | 0.4151 | +1.4% |
| 2010 | 0.2856 | -31.2% |
| 2011 | 0.2046 | -28.4% |
| 2012 | 0.0795 | -61.1% |
| 2013 | -0.0319 | -140.1% |
| 2014 | -0.0724 | +127.0% |
| 2015 | -0.1761 | +143.3% |
| 2016 | -0.0999 | -43.3% |
| 2017 | -0.0453 | -54.6% |
| 2018 | 0.0078 | -117.3% |
| 2019 | 0.0845 | +980.2% |
| 2020 | 0.1553 | +83.7% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 0.1553 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.3338, 47% of the median. (50 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 0.1553 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is -0.7907. (24 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | +980.2% | 0.0078 | 0.0845 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.876 | 0.7882 | 0.9642 | 4 |
| 2000s | 0.5869 | 0.4093 | 0.8207 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.0237 | -0.1761 | 0.2856 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1553 | 0.1553 | 0.1553 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More social development data for Costa Rica
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 36,395 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 367 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 367 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0071 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica?
- Citizen support for democracy in Costa Rica was 0.1553 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9642 in 1996.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.1761 in 2015.
- How does Costa Rica rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Costa Rica ranks 49th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 45.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.