What is key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica?

Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica was 0.809 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest key features of liberal democracy recorded in Costa Rica?

The highest recorded value was 0.857 in 2010.

What is the lowest key features of liberal democracy recorded in Costa Rica?

The lowest recorded value was 0.123 in 1918.

How does Costa Rica rank for key features of liberal democracy?

Costa Rica ranks 7th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is key features of liberal democracy rising or falling in Costa Rica?

Over the last ten years it is down 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

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 Key features of liberal democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica

Name: Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Costa Rica: Key features of liberal democracy was 0.809 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)

0.809

Change on year

unchanged

World rank

7th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.857

in 2010

All-time low

0.123

in 1918

Years of data

188

1838–2025

Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica, 1838–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

The most recent figure for key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica is 0.809, measured in 2025.

The figure is down 5.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica peaked at 0.857 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0.123, in 1918.

That places Costa Rica 7th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica, year by year

Annual values for Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica, 1838 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1838	0.157	—
1839	0.157	+0.0%
1840	0.157	+0.0%
1841	0.16	+1.9%
1842	0.168	+5.0%
1843	0.198	+17.9%
1844	0.193	-2.5%
1845	0.173	-10.4%
1846	0.171	-1.2%
1847	0.166	-2.9%
1848	0.17	+2.4%
1849	0.17	+0.0%
1850	0.157	-7.6%
1851	0.171	+8.9%
1852	0.171	+0.0%
1853	0.171	+0.0%
1854	0.171	+0.0%
1855	0.171	+0.0%
1856	0.171	+0.0%
1857	0.171	+0.0%
1858	0.171	+0.0%
1859	0.169	-1.2%
1860	0.156	-7.7%
1861	0.173	+10.9%
1862	0.173	+0.0%
1863	0.173	+0.0%
1864	0.173	+0.0%
1865	0.173	+0.0%
1866	0.173	+0.0%
1867	0.173	+0.0%
1868	0.171	-1.2%
1869	0.16	-6.4%
1870	0.158	-1.3%
1871	0.166	+5.1%
1872	0.192	+15.7%
1873	0.192	+0.0%
1874	0.192	+0.0%
1875	0.192	+0.0%
1876	0.176	-8.3%
1877	0.156	-11.4%
1878	0.166	+6.4%
1879	0.166	+0.0%
1880	0.189	+13.9%
1881	0.189	+0.0%
1882	0.206	+9.0%
1883	0.211	+2.4%
1884	0.211	+0.0%
1885	0.203	-3.8%
1886	0.202	-0.5%
1887	0.211	+4.5%
1888	0.216	+2.4%
1889	0.216	+0.0%
1890	0.223	+3.2%
1891	0.226	+1.3%
1892	0.213	-5.8%
1893	0.213	+0.0%
1894	0.209	-1.9%
1895	0.208	-0.5%
1896	0.21	+1.0%
1897	0.21	+0.0%
1898	0.211	+0.5%
1899	0.211	+0.0%
1900	0.207	-1.9%
1901	0.199	-3.9%
1902	0.206	+3.5%
1903	0.206	+0.0%
1904	0.206	+0.0%
1905	0.206	+0.0%
1906	0.206	+0.0%
1907	0.206	+0.0%
1908	0.206	+0.0%
1909	0.207	+0.5%
1910	0.209	+1.0%
1911	0.21	+0.5%
1912	0.21	+0.0%
1913	0.229	+9.0%
1914	0.229	+0.0%
1915	0.229	+0.0%
1916	0.229	+0.0%
1917	0.128	-44.1%
1918	0.123	-3.9%
1919	0.127	+3.3%
1920	0.225	+77.2%
1921	0.238	+5.8%
1922	0.238	+0.0%
1923	0.238	+0.0%
1924	0.243	+2.1%
1925	0.243	+0.0%
1926	0.243	+0.0%
1927	0.243	+0.0%
1928	0.243	+0.0%
1929	0.243	+0.0%
1930	0.245	+0.8%
1931	0.247	+0.8%
1932	0.249	+0.8%
1933	0.249	+0.0%
1934	0.249	+0.0%
1935	0.249	+0.0%
1936	0.244	-2.0%
1937	0.244	+0.0%
1938	0.244	+0.0%
1939	0.244	+0.0%
1940	0.251	+2.9%
1941	0.252	+0.4%
1942	0.252	+0.0%
1943	0.251	-0.4%
1944	0.253	+0.8%
1945	0.253	+0.0%
1946	0.254	+0.4%
1947	0.254	+0.0%
1948	0.161	-36.6%
1949	0.211	+31.1%
1950	0.489	+131.8%
1951	0.501	+2.5%
1952	0.503	+0.4%
1953	0.562	+11.7%
1954	0.624	+11.0%
1955	0.624	+0.0%
1956	0.624	+0.0%
1957	0.624	+0.0%
1958	0.625	+0.2%
1959	0.637	+1.9%
1960	0.629	-1.3%
1961	0.629	+0.0%
1962	0.632	+0.5%
1963	0.632	+0.0%
1964	0.632	+0.0%
1965	0.632	+0.0%
1966	0.643	+1.7%
1967	0.644	+0.2%
1968	0.644	+0.0%
1969	0.644	+0.0%
1970	0.653	+1.4%
1971	0.655	+0.3%
1972	0.655	+0.0%
1973	0.655	+0.0%
1974	0.657	+0.3%
1975	0.702	+6.8%
1976	0.714	+1.7%
1977	0.717	+0.4%
1978	0.732	+2.1%
1979	0.738	+0.8%
1980	0.767	+3.9%
1981	0.764	-0.4%
1982	0.786	+2.9%
1983	0.787	+0.1%
1984	0.787	+0.0%
1985	0.787	+0.0%
1986	0.789	+0.3%
1987	0.795	+0.8%
1988	0.804	+1.1%
1989	0.812	+1.0%
1990	0.838	+3.2%
1991	0.841	+0.4%
1992	0.841	+0.0%
1993	0.841	+0.0%
1994	0.841	+0.0%
1995	0.841	+0.0%
1996	0.84	-0.1%
1997	0.835	-0.6%
1998	0.841	+0.7%
1999	0.841	+0.0%
2000	0.84	-0.1%
2001	0.841	+0.1%
2002	0.843	+0.2%
2003	0.843	+0.0%
2004	0.843	+0.0%
2005	0.839	-0.5%
2006	0.851	+1.4%
2007	0.854	+0.4%
2008	0.854	+0.0%
2009	0.855	+0.1%
2010	0.857	+0.2%
2011	0.856	-0.1%
2012	0.857	+0.1%
2013	0.853	-0.5%
2014	0.854	+0.1%
2015	0.854	+0.0%
2016	0.852	-0.2%
2017	0.85	-0.2%
2018	0.834	-1.9%
2019	0.842	+1.0%
2020	0.844	+0.2%
2021	0.843	-0.1%
2022	0.813	-3.6%
2023	0.809	-0.5%
2024	0.809	+0.0%
2025	0.809	+0.0%

Costa Rica compared with similar countries

Costa Rica's 0.809 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.689, 1.2× the median. (55 countries reporting)
Costa Rica's 0.809 is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.506, 1.6× the median. (25 countries reporting)

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Key features of liberal 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
1950	+131.8%	0.211	0.489
1920	+77.2%	0.127	0.225
1917	-44.1%	0.229	0.128
1948	-36.6%	0.254	0.161
1949	+31.1%	0.161	0.211

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1830s	0.157	0.157	0.157	2
1840s	0.1726	0.157	0.198	10
1850s	0.1694	0.157	0.171	10
1860s	0.1698	0.156	0.173	10
1870s	0.1756	0.156	0.192	10
1880s	0.2054	0.189	0.216	10
1890s	0.2134	0.208	0.226	10
1900s	0.2055	0.199	0.207	10
1910s	0.1923	0.123	0.229	10
1920s	0.2397	0.225	0.243	10
1930s	0.2464	0.244	0.249	10
1940s	0.2392	0.161	0.254	10
1950s	0.5813	0.489	0.637	10
1960s	0.6361	0.629	0.644	10
1970s	0.6878	0.653	0.738	10
1980s	0.7878	0.764	0.812	10
1990s	0.84	0.835	0.841	10
2000s	0.8463	0.839	0.855	10
2010s	0.8509	0.834	0.857	10
2020s	0.8212	0.809	0.844	6

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

4 Switzerland 0.843 compare
5 Estonia 0.837 compare
6 Ireland 0.822 compare
8 Finland 0.808 compare
9 France 0.8 compare
10 Belgium 0.794 compare
10 Czechia 0.794 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

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)

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica?: Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica was 0.809 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest key features of liberal democracy recorded in Costa Rica?: The highest recorded value was 0.857 in 2010.
What is the lowest key features of liberal democracy recorded in Costa Rica?: The lowest recorded value was 0.123 in 1918.
How does Costa Rica rank for key features of liberal democracy?: Costa Rica ranks 7th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is key features of liberal democracy rising or falling in Costa Rica?: Over the last ten years it is down 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
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 Key features of liberal democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Key features of liberal democracy in Costa Rica. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 October 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/key-features-of-liberal-democracy/costa-rica/

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About this data

Indicator: Key features of liberal democracy
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 28,671 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

Central estimate of the extent of suffrage, the freedom and fairness of elections, freedoms of association and expression, individual and minority rights, equality before the law, and executive constraints.