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Costa Rica · data for latest available · data as of 26 October 2026 · printed 27 Oct 2026
NationsTree / Countries / Costa Rica
2025
Flag of Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Latin America & Caribbean Capital San Jose High income Nation age 205 years (since 1821) i CRI · CR
NationsTree Index 2025 i54.771st of 196 Tree height 2025 i7.9 msee ranking Military strength i11percentile
Population i5.2 m126th of 217 Area i51,100 km²128th of 216 GDP i$102.90 bn74th of 210 GDP (PPP) i$174.25 bn intl.84th of 199 GDP per person (PPP) i$33,815 intl.76th of 199 Life expectancy i81.0 years47th of 217
Index pillars
Foundations · roots i63
Strength · trunk i47
Quality of life · crown i58
Problems (higher = fewer) · dry branches i51
Direction (5-year change) · new shoots i50
CSV

In short

Costa Rica is 71st of 196 countries in the NationsTree Index, with a score of 54.7 out of 100; its tree is 7.9 m tall.

It has 5.2 million people and an economy of $174.25 bn at purchasing power parity, 84th of 199 in the world.

Its strongest positions: DPT immunization (1st of 193), Inflation (13th of 180) and Secondary enrolment (14th of 173).

Its weakest positions: Income inequality (Gini) (100th of 108), Homicide rate (127th of 145) and Safely managed sanitation (115th of 144).

Over five years it climbed from 75th to 71st in the index.

All data

Data as of 26 October 2026

Latest available value for each indicator, with its year. World rank is among countries with recent data (last 5 years of the series).

Land & people

48
Surface area ikm² 51,100 128th/216
Land area ikm² 50,560 127th/216
Population ipeople 5.2 m 126th/217
Population growth i% 0.45% 143rd/217
Population density ipeople/km² 101.5 104th/216
Urban population i% 79.7% 59th/217
Population aged 0–14 i% 18.3% 136th/217
Population aged 65+ i% 12.8% 77th/217

Economy

59
GDP iUSD $102.90 bn 74th/210
GDP (PPP) iintl. USD $174.25 bn 84th/199
Real GDP (PPP, constant 2021 prices) iintl. USD 2021 $146.57 bn 86th/199
GDP per person iUSD $19,970 75th/210
GDP per person (PPP) iintl. USD $33,815 76th/199
GNI per person (Atlas) iUSD $17,930 72nd/201
GDP growth i% 4.6% 61st/210
Inflation i% -0.1% 13th/180
Unemployment i% 6.8% 124th/187
Central government debt i% of GDP 39.3%2001
General government gross debt i% of GDP 60.4% 116th/189
Government budget balance i% of GDP -3.4% 116th/192

Main industries

57
Agriculture, forestry, fishing i% of GDP 3.4% 124th/197
Industry incl. construction i% of GDP 19.9% 127th/200
Manufacturing i% of GDP 13.6% 56th/192
Services i% of GDP 69.2% 37th/200

Trade

54
Exports of goods & services iUSD $39.98 bn 73rd/182
Imports of goods & services iUSD $33.59 bn 78th/182
Exports i% of GDP 38.8% 87th/183
Imports i% of GDP 32.6% 124th/183
Trade openness i% of GDP 71.5% 110th/183
Fuel exports i% of merchandise exports 0.0% 147th/170
Manufactures exports i% of merchandise exports 64.9% 48th/171
Food exports i% of merchandise exports 32.3% 45th/171
Ores & metals exports i% of merchandise exports 1.4% 123rd/171
High-tech exports i% of manufactured exports 22.9% 27th/168
Current account balance i% of GDP -0.6% 84th/191
Foreign direct investment, inflows i% of GDP 5.4% 38th/196

Natural resources

55
Natural resource rents i% of GDP 0.8% 123rd/209
Oil rents i% of GDP 0.01% 108th/197
Natural gas rents i% of GDP 0.00% 100th/197
Coal rents i% of GDP 0.00% 68th/195
Mineral rents i% of GDP 0.00% 91st/209
Forest rents i% of GDP 0.75% 62nd/209
Arable land i% of land area 3.3% 153rd/206
Renewable freshwater per person im³ 22,236 29th/183

Tourism

49
International tourist arrivals iarrivals 1.1 m 90th/194
Tourism receipts iUSD $1.48 bn 59th/175
Tourism receipts i% of exports 7.4% 71st/168
Outbound trips idepartures 324,000 87th/107

Society & health

59
Life expectancy iyears 81.0 47th/217
Under-5 mortality iper 1,000 births 10.4 79th/196
Physicians iper 1,000 people 2.69 67th/174
Hospital beds iper 1,000 people 1.1 110th/145
DPT immunization i% of children 12–23 months 99% 1st/193
Completed lower secondary, 25+ i% of adults 52.4% 112th/153
Secondary enrolment i% gross 121.8% 14th/173
Social protection coverage (incl. pensions) i% of population 70.9% 17th/55
Old-age dependency ratio i% of working-age population 18.5% 81st/217
Health spending i% of GDP 6.9% 87th/193
Adult literacy i% 97.4%2011
Tertiary enrolment i% gross 55.0%2019
Human Development Index iindex 0–1 0.833 62nd/193
Income inequality (Gini) iindex 45.5 100th/108
Extreme poverty i% of population 0.8% 43rd/108

Infrastructure & digital

52
Access to electricity i% of population 99.8% 126th/215
Safely managed drinking water i% of population 80.5% 76th/150
Safely managed sanitation i% of population 26.3% 115th/144
Internet users i% of population 87.2% 75th/186
Mobile subscriptions iper 100 people 136 47th/210
Fixed broadband iper 100 people 23.3 82nd/208
Trade & transport infrastructure quality (LPI) iscore 1–5 2.70 71st/164
Rail lines iroute-km 8482001
Air passengers carried ipassengers 2.0 m 82nd/161

Environment & energy

61
CO₂ emissions per person it CO₂e 1.63 82nd/203
Renewable energy i% of final energy use 34.2% 72nd/212
Air pollution (PM2.5) iµg/m³ 17.7 101st/200
Forest area i% of land area 59.1% 32nd/214
Energy use per person ikg oil eq. 1,121 87th/149

Institutions & safety

67
Government effectiveness iscore 0–100 60.8 71st/205
Control of corruption iscore 0–100 62.0 51st/207
Rule of law iscore 0–100 68.6 58th/207
Political stability iscore 0–100 87.0 24th/207
Regulatory quality iscore 0–100 64.8 56th/205
Voice & accountability iscore 0–100 76.8 37th/205
Homicide rate iper 100,000 17.7 127th/145

Military

11
Military expenditure iUSD $0.00 154th/156
Military expenditure i% of GDP 0.0% 154th/156
Military expenditure i% of government spending 0.0% 152nd/154
Armed forces personnel ipeople 10,000 131st/170
Armed forces personnel i% of labour force 0.41% 125th/168
Arms imports (SIPRI TIV) iTIV 8.0 m2019
Arms exports (SIPRI TIV) iTIV 3.0 m2009

Science & innovation

41
R&D spending i% of GDP 0.34% 71st/110
Patent applications by residents iapplications 15 93rd/137
Scientific articles iarticles 661 92nd/197

Compare Costa Rica with

BoliviaEcuadorGuatemalaPanamaParaguayPuerto Rico (US)Uruguay

Sources

Figures on this page come from: World Bank — World Development Indicators, International Monetary Fund — World Economic Outlook (DataMapper), Global Change Data Lab (Our World in Data) — Our World in Data, World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators . Nation age: Wikidata P571 (inception) (source). Every value is stored with its year and source series; see Sources & licences and Methodology.

Cite as: NationsTree (2026). Costa Rica — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/costa-rica. Data as of 26 October 2026.

All figures come from official statistics published by public institutions (World Bank WDI and WGI, compiling UN agencies, IMF, WHO and national statistical offices). Each value carries its year; ranks are positions among countries with data.
Cite as: NationsTree (2026). Costa Rica — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/costa-rica. Data as of 26 October 2026.
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