HEAD TO HEAD
Costa Rica vs Nicaragua
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1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side.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
| Factor | Costa Rica | Share | Nicaragua | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $0 | 0%100% | $116m | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $95.4bn | 83%17% | $19.7bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 0 | 0%100% | 12.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 21 | 88%13% | 3 | 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 2026-10-22.
