Poverty at the national line — all countries

Poverty at the national line — Costa Rica

Poverty at the national line in Costa Rica in 2025 — 17.1%. Ranked 2 in the world out of 5. Since 1989, the indicator has fallen by 11.2 pp.

2025 17.1% −3.2 pp vs 2024
World rank 2of 5
Period maximum 31.9%1991
Period minimum 16.7%2007

Trend over time

1989–2025 · % of population

Poverty at the national line — Costa Rica, 1989–2025152025303519891993199720012005200920132017202120251989: 28.3%1990: 27.1%1991: 31.9%1992: 29.4%1993: 23.2%1994: 20%1995: 20.4%1996: 21.5%1997: 20.7%1998: 19.7%1999: 20.6%2000: 20.6%2001: 20.3%2002: 20.6%2003: 18.5%2004: 21.7%2005: 21.2%2006: 20.2%2007: 16.7%2008: 17.7%2009: 18.5%2010: 24.2%2011: 24.8%2012: 23.5%2013: 23.3%2014: 24.6%2015: 23.6%2016: 22.9%2017: 22.1%2018: 22.9%2019: 23.9%2020: 30%2021: 26.2%2022: 25.5%2023: 24.4%2024: 20.3%2025: 17.1%
Change over the period: −11.2 pp Annual average: -0.31 pp
Poverty at the national line — Costa Rica, by year Costa Rica All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2025 17.1 −3.2 pp
2024 20.3 −4.1 pp
2023 24.4 −1.1 pp
2022 25.5 −0.7 pp
2021 26.2 −3.8 pp
2020 30 +6.1 pp
2019 23.9 +1 pp
2018 22.9 +0.8 pp
2017 22.1 −0.8 pp
2016 22.9 −0.7 pp
2015 23.6 −1 pp
2014 24.6 +1.3 pp
2013 23.3 −0.2 pp
2012 23.5 −1.3 pp
2011 24.8 +0.6 pp
2010 24.2 +5.7 pp
2009 18.5 +0.8 pp
2008 17.7 +1 pp
2007 16.7 −3.5 pp
2006 20.2 −1 pp
2005 21.2 −0.5 pp
2004 21.7 +3.2 pp
2003 18.5 −2.1 pp
2002 20.6 +0.3 pp
2001 20.3 −0.3 pp
2000 20.6 +0 pp
1999 20.6 +0.9 pp
1998 19.7 −1 pp
1997 20.7 −0.8 pp
1996 21.5 +1.1 pp
1995 20.4 +0.4 pp
1994 20 −3.2 pp
1993 23.2 −6.2 pp
1992 29.4 −2.5 pp
1991 31.9 +4.8 pp
1990 27.1 −1.2 pp
1989 28.3

Central America, 2025

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

CR Costa Rica 17.1 HN Honduras 60.1

About the indicator

The share of the population below the national poverty line — the one a country has defined in its legislation or in the methodology of its statistical office. The indicator answers a question the international lines do not ask: how many people are poor by the standards of their own society. That is exactly why it is unfit for comparing countries with one another — yet it shows better than any other indicator how a country assesses poverty at home, and it is what the results of national policy are judged by.

Important: There are no aggregates for country groups, and this is not a gap: poverty lines differ between countries, and a sum of shares computed against different lines has no definition. For comparing countries there are the three international lines.

Source: World Development Indicators (World Bank), license CC BY 4.0.