Deliberative Democracy Index in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Deliberative Democracy Index was 0.787 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Deliberative Democracy Index in Costa Rica, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, deliberative democracy index in Costa Rica stood at 0.787.
That represents a change of down 7.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, deliberative democracy index in Costa Rica peaked at 0.864 in 2007 and was at its lowest, 0.109, in 1917.
That places Costa Rica 9th out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Deliberative Democracy Index in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.198 | — |
| 1901 | 0.19 | -4.0% |
| 1902 | 0.191 | +0.5% |
| 1903 | 0.201 | +5.2% |
| 1904 | 0.201 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.201 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.201 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.201 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.201 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.203 | +1.0% |
| 1910 | 0.206 | +1.5% |
| 1911 | 0.206 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.206 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 0.224 | +8.7% |
| 1914 | 0.225 | +0.4% |
| 1915 | 0.225 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.225 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.109 | -51.6% |
| 1918 | 0.128 | +17.4% |
| 1919 | 0.133 | +3.9% |
| 1920 | 0.23 | +72.9% |
| 1921 | 0.243 | +5.7% |
| 1922 | 0.243 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.243 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.249 | +2.5% |
| 1925 | 0.249 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.249 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.249 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.248 | -0.4% |
| 1929 | 0.249 | +0.4% |
| 1930 | 0.249 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.249 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.251 | +0.8% |
| 1933 | 0.252 | +0.4% |
| 1934 | 0.252 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.252 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.234 | -7.1% |
| 1937 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.265 | +13.2% |
| 1941 | 0.266 | +0.4% |
| 1942 | 0.266 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.266 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.267 | +0.4% |
| 1945 | 0.268 | +0.4% |
| 1946 | 0.267 | -0.4% |
| 1947 | 0.267 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0.187 | -30.0% |
| 1949 | 0.269 | +43.9% |
| 1950 | 0.494 | +83.6% |
| 1951 | 0.505 | +2.2% |
| 1952 | 0.505 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 0.566 | +12.1% |
| 1954 | 0.627 | +10.8% |
| 1955 | 0.627 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 0.627 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.627 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.627 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.633 | +1.0% |
| 1960 | 0.631 | -0.3% |
| 1961 | 0.631 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.634 | +0.5% |
| 1963 | 0.634 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.634 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.634 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.641 | +1.1% |
| 1967 | 0.642 | +0.2% |
| 1968 | 0.642 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.642 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.657 | +2.3% |
| 1971 | 0.663 | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 0.663 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.663 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.661 | -0.3% |
| 1975 | 0.707 | +7.0% |
| 1976 | 0.72 | +1.8% |
| 1977 | 0.722 | +0.3% |
| 1978 | 0.736 | +1.9% |
| 1979 | 0.737 | +0.1% |
| 1980 | 0.764 | +3.7% |
| 1981 | 0.764 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.783 | +2.5% |
| 1983 | 0.784 | +0.1% |
| 1984 | 0.784 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.784 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.804 | +2.6% |
| 1987 | 0.804 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.813 | +1.1% |
| 1989 | 0.813 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.83 | +2.1% |
| 1991 | 0.832 | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 0.832 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.832 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.832 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.832 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.832 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.832 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.833 | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 0.833 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.841 | +1.0% |
| 2001 | 0.841 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.839 | -0.2% |
| 2003 | 0.839 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.839 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.839 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.86 | +2.5% |
| 2007 | 0.864 | +0.5% |
| 2008 | 0.859 | -0.6% |
| 2009 | 0.859 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.861 | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 0.861 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.862 | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 0.858 | -0.5% |
| 2014 | 0.857 | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 0.85 | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 0.839 | -1.3% |
| 2017 | 0.844 | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 0.827 | -2.0% |
| 2019 | 0.833 | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 0.84 | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 0.838 | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 0.797 | -4.9% |
| 2023 | 0.787 | -1.3% |
| 2024 | 0.787 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 0.787 | +0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 0.787 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.665, 1.2× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 0.787 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.41, 1.9× the median. (25 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Deliberative Democracy Index 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | +83.6% | 0.269 | 0.494 |
| 1920 | +72.9% | 0.133 | 0.23 |
| 1917 | -51.6% | 0.225 | 0.109 |
| 1949 | +43.9% | 0.187 | 0.269 |
| 1948 | -30.0% | 0.267 | 0.187 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.1988 | 0.19 | 0.203 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.1887 | 0.109 | 0.225 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.2452 | 0.23 | 0.249 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.2441 | 0.234 | 0.252 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.2588 | 0.187 | 0.269 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.5838 | 0.494 | 0.633 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.6365 | 0.631 | 0.642 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.6929 | 0.657 | 0.737 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7897 | 0.764 | 0.813 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.832 | 0.83 | 0.833 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.848 | 0.839 | 0.864 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8492 | 0.827 | 0.862 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.806 | 0.787 | 0.84 | 6 |
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 deliberative democracy index in Costa Rica?
- Deliberative democracy index in Costa Rica was 0.787 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest deliberative democracy index recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 0.864 in 2007.
- What is the lowest deliberative democracy index recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.109 in 1917.
- How does Costa Rica rank for deliberative democracy index?
- Costa Rica ranks 9th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is deliberative democracy index rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Deliberative Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent of suffrage, the freedom and fairness of elections, freedoms of association and expression, as well as the extent to which political elites justify their positions, justify them with the common good, acknowledge counterarguments, consult elites in policy changes, and society deliberates policy changes.