Colombia holds a 90–10 advantage over Costa Rica on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (100% of the combined total, $14.5bn) and economic size (GDP) (81% of the combined total, $419bn).
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
| Factor | Colombia | Share | Costa Rica | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $14.5bn | 100%0% | $0 | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $419bn | 81%19% | $95.4bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 256.0k | 100%0% | 0 | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 66 | 76%24% | 21 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-08-04.
Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.
Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.