Barbados vs Costa Rica: Democracy
Barbados
7
in 2025
Costa Rica
7
in 2025
Barbados rank
1st
Costa Rica rank
1st
Democracy over time
- Barbados
- Costa Rica
How they compare
Barbados currently reports 7 against 7 in Costa Rica, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 187 shared years of data; in 1839 it was Barbados ahead.
Barbados ranks 1st and Costa Rica ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Across the 20 decades both report, Barbados averaged higher in 6 and Costa Rica in 8.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Barbados | Costa Rica | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1830s | 2 | 0 | 2 | Barbados |
| 1840s | 2 | 0.6 | 1.4 | Barbados |
| 1850s | 2 | 1 | 1 | Barbados |
| 1860s | 2 | 1 | 1 | Barbados |
| 1870s | 2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | Barbados |
| 1880s | 2 | 1 | 1 | Barbados |
| 1890s | 2 | 2.6 | 0.6 | Costa Rica |
| 1900s | 2 | 3.9 | 1.9 | Costa Rica |
| 1910s | 2 | 3.2 | 1.2 | Costa Rica |
| 1920s | 2 | 4 | 2 | Costa Rica |
| 1930s | 2 | 4 | 2 | Costa Rica |
| 1940s | 2 | 3.8 | 1.8 | Costa Rica |
| 1950s | 2 | 6.1 | 4.1 | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 6 | 7 | 1 | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, Barbados or Costa Rica?
- Barbados, at 7 against 7 in Costa Rica as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between Barbados and Costa Rica?
- 0, with Barbados ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Barbados and Costa Rica?
- 187 years are reported by both, from 1839 to 2025.
- How do Barbados and Costa Rica rank globally for democracy?
- Barbados ranks 1st and Costa Rica ranks 1st of 198 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as 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. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies (score 0), one-party autocracies (score 1), multi-party autocracies without elected executive (score 2), multi-party autocracies (score 3), exclusive democracies (score 4), male democracies (score 5), electoral democracies (score 6), and full democracies (score 7).