Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index was 80.8 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
80.8 years
Change on year
up 1.9%
World rank
51st
of 236 countries
All-time high
80.8 years
in 2023
All-time low
30.21 years
in 1875
Years of data
80
1875–2023
Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index in Costa Rica, 1875–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 80.8 years for life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index in 2023. That is the highest value across all 80 years on record.
The figure is up 1.9% on the previous year and up 0.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index in Costa Rica peaked at 80.8 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 30.21 years, in 1875.
That places Costa Rica 51st out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 80 years of available data.
Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1875 | 30.21 years | — |
| 1900 | 32 years | +5.9% |
| 1910 | 33 years | +3.1% |
| 1920 | 37 years | +12.1% |
| 1930 | 42 years | +13.5% |
| 1940 | 49 years | +16.7% |
| 1950 | 57.46 years | +17.3% |
| 1951 | 57.82 years | +0.6% |
| 1952 | 58.11 years | +0.5% |
| 1953 | 59.06 years | +1.6% |
| 1954 | 59.85 years | +1.3% |
| 1955 | 60.45 years | +1.0% |
| 1956 | 61.2 years | +1.2% |
| 1957 | 61.58 years | +0.6% |
| 1958 | 62.26 years | +1.1% |
| 1959 | 62.91 years | +1.0% |
| 1960 | 63.46 years | +0.9% |
| 1961 | 63.86 years | +0.6% |
| 1962 | 64.23 years | +0.6% |
| 1963 | 64.33 years | +0.1% |
| 1964 | 64.49 years | +0.3% |
| 1965 | 64.76 years | +0.4% |
| 1966 | 65.1 years | +0.5% |
| 1967 | 65.55 years | +0.7% |
| 1968 | 65.78 years | +0.3% |
| 1969 | 66.36 years | +0.9% |
| 1970 | 66.79 years | +0.6% |
| 1971 | 67.41 years | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 68.01 years | +0.9% |
| 1973 | 68.73 years | +1.1% |
| 1974 | 69.45 years | +1.0% |
| 1975 | 70.25 years | +1.2% |
| 1976 | 70.95 years | +1.0% |
| 1977 | 71.52 years | +0.8% |
| 1978 | 72.03 years | +0.7% |
| 1979 | 72.54 years | +0.7% |
| 1980 | 73.03 years | +0.7% |
| 1981 | 73.44 years | +0.6% |
| 1982 | 73.86 years | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 74.25 years | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 74.58 years | +0.5% |
| 1985 | 74.76 years | +0.2% |
| 1986 | 74.95 years | +0.2% |
| 1987 | 75.22 years | +0.4% |
| 1988 | 75.55 years | +0.4% |
| 1989 | 75.85 years | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 76.09 years | +0.3% |
| 1991 | 76.24 years | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 76.38 years | +0.2% |
| 1993 | 76.32 years | -0.1% |
| 1994 | 76.33 years | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 76.44 years | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 76.43 years | -0.0% |
| 1997 | 76.6 years | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 76.87 years | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 77.06 years | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 77.32 years | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 77.61 years | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 77.94 years | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 78.21 years | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 78.51 years | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 78.88 years | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 79.05 years | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 79.1 years | +0.1% |
| 2008 | 79.18 years | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 79.37 years | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 79.35 years | -0.0% |
| 2011 | 79.62 years | +0.3% |
| 2012 | 79.92 years | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 80.19 years | +0.3% |
| 2014 | 80.23 years | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 80.41 years | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 79.99 years | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 79.99 years | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 80.09 years | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 80.3 years | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 79.73 years | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 78.05 years | -2.1% |
| 2022 | 79.32 years | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 80.8 years | +1.9% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 80.8 years is below the median for high income countries, which is 81 years, 100% of the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 80.8 years is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 75.34 years, 1.1× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 30.21 years | 30.21 years | 30.21 years | 1 |
| 1900s | 32 years | 32 years | 32 years | 1 |
| 1910s | 33 years | 33 years | 33 years | 1 |
| 1920s | 37 years | 37 years | 37 years | 1 |
| 1930s | 42 years | 42 years | 42 years | 1 |
| 1940s | 49 years | 49 years | 49 years | 1 |
| 1950s | 60.07 years | 57.46 years | 62.91 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 64.79 years | 63.46 years | 66.36 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 69.77 years | 66.79 years | 72.54 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 74.55 years | 73.03 years | 75.85 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 76.48 years | 76.09 years | 77.06 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 78.52 years | 77.32 years | 79.37 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 80.01 years | 79.35 years | 80.41 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 79.47 years | 78.05 years | 80.8 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More health data for Costa Rica
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.78 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.4617 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,632 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 35 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -3.42 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0248 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -3.37 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index in Costa Rica?
- Life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index in Costa Rica was 80.8 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 80.8 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 30.21 years in 1875.
- How does Costa Rica rank for life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index?
- Costa Rica ranks 51st out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 80 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.