CONFLICTIQ
HEAD TO HEAD

Costa Rica vs Nicaragua

Costa Rica
40%
RAI
Nicaragua
60%

Verdict

Nicaragua holds a 60–40 advantage over Costa Rica on the Relative Advantage Index, a clear margin.

The margin is driven by military spending (100% of the combined total, $116m) and active personnel (100% of the combined total, 12.0k). Costa Rica leads on logistics & power projection and economic size (GDP).

1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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 by factor

FactorCosta RicaShareNicaraguaWeight
Military spending
SIPRI Milex
$0
0%100%
$116m33%
Economic size (GDP)
World Bank WDI
$95.4bn
83%17%
$19.7bn27%
Active personnel
COW NMC
0
0%100%
12.0k20%
Logistics & power projection
OurAirports
21
88%13%
320%

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.

Full Costa Rica dossier →Full Nicaragua dossier →Run a war game →

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Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.

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PhilippinesItaly v PolandItaly v RussiaItaly v Saudi ArabiaItaly v South KoreaItaly v SpainItaly v ThailandItaly v TürkiyeItaly v UkraineItaly v United KingdomItaly v United StatesItaly v VietnamJapan v MexicoJapan v MyanmarJapan v North KoreaJapan v PakistanJapan v PhilippinesJapan v PolandJapan v RussiaJapan v Saudi ArabiaJapan v South KoreaJapan v SpainJapan v ThailandJapan v TürkiyeJapan v UkraineJapan v United KingdomJapan v United StatesJapan v VietnamMexico v MyanmarMexico v North KoreaMexico v PakistanMexico v PhilippinesMexico v PolandMexico v RussiaMexico v Saudi ArabiaMexico v South KoreaMexico v SpainMexico v ThailandMexico v TürkiyeMexico v UkraineMexico v United KingdomMexico v United StatesMexico v VietnamMyanmar v North KoreaMyanmar v PakistanMyanmar v PhilippinesMyanmar v PolandMyanmar v RussiaMyanmar v Saudi ArabiaMyanmar v South KoreaMyanmar v SpainMyanmar v ThailandMyanmar v TürkiyeMyanmar v UkraineMyanmar v United KingdomMyanmar v United StatesMyanmar v 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Neighbour rivalries (473)

Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.

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Sts. v PalauMicronesia, Fed. 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