Costa Rica vs Iceland: Share of women in parliament
Costa Rica
49.1%
in 2025
Iceland
46.0%
in 2025
Costa Rica rank
7th
Iceland rank
8th
Share of women in parliament over time
- Costa Rica
- Iceland
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 49.1% against 46.0% in Iceland, a difference of 3.1%.
That makes Costa Rica's figure about 1.1 times Iceland's.
The two have swapped places 9 times across 100 shared years of data; in 1900 it was Iceland ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 7th and Iceland ranks 8th of 174 countries.
Across the 12 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 4 and Iceland in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Iceland | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1920s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1940s | 0.0% | 1.9% | 1.9% | Iceland |
| 1950s | 4.2% | 2.0% | 2.2% | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 3.7% | 2.2% | 1.5% | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 6.3% | 4.7% | 1.7% | Costa Rica |
| 1980s | 8.4% | 13.7% | 5.3% | Iceland |
| 1990s | 14.4% | 25.2% | 10.9% | Iceland |
| 2000s | 31.4% | 33.3% | 1.9% | Iceland |
| 2010s | 38.2% | 41.3% | 3.0% | Iceland |
| 2020s | 47.4% | 46.0% | 1.3% | Costa Rica |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of women in parliament, Costa Rica or Iceland?
- Costa Rica, at 49.1% against 46.0% in Iceland as of 2025.
- What is the difference in share of women in parliament between Costa Rica and Iceland?
- 3.1%, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Iceland?
- 100 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and Iceland rank globally for share of women in parliament?
- Costa Rica ranks 7th and Iceland ranks 8th of 174 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Share of women in parliament. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Percentage of women in the lower or single chamber of the legislature.