World Factbook
Costa Rica
República de Costa Rica
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
female
94.1% (2018 est.)
Languages
Languages
Spanish (official), English
major-language sample(s)
La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Roman Catholic 47.5%, Evangelical and Pentecostal 19.8%, Jehovah's Witness 1.4%, other Protestant 1.2%, other 3.1%, none 27% (2021 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.02 male(s)/female
total population
1 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.84 male(s)/female
Birth rate
10.86 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
5.24 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
34.9 years
total
36 years (2025 est.)
female
36.1 years
Population
male
2,654,314
total
5,304,932 (2025 est.)
female
2,650,618
Nationality
noun
Costa Rican(s)
adjective
Costa Rican
Tobacco use
male
12.2% (2025 est.)
total
8.1% (2025 est.)
female
4.1% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
82.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
1.5% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
18.8% (male 506,041/female 482,481)
15-64 years
70.2% (male 1,862,872/female 1,832,024)
65 years and over
11.1% (2024 est.) (male 266,568/female 315,589)
Ethnic groups
White or Mestizo 83.6%, Mulatto 6.7%, Indigenous 2.4%, Black or African descent 1.1%, other 1.1%, none 2.9%, unspecified 2.2% (2011 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15
2% (2018)
women married by age 18
17.1% (2018)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
42.7 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
26.2 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
6.1 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
16.5 (2025 est.)
Physician density
2.69 physicians/1,000 population (2022)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
7.6% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
25.8% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
1.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
1.2 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.45 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 99.6% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
6.2% of GDP (2021 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
31.2% national budget (2021 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
7 deaths/1,000 live births
total
6.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
6.3 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.75% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.71 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
roughly half of the nation's population resides in urban areas; the capital of San Jose is the largest city and home to approximately one fifth of the population
Life expectancy at birth
male
77.7 years
female
82.9 years
total population
80.3 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
24 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 97.6% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 98.9% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.2% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 2.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 1.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.8% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
2.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
3.07 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.36 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.39 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
1.462 million SAN JOSE (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
25.7% (2016)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
41.7% (2022 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
2.9% (2018 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
15 years (2019 est.)
total
16 years (2019 est.)
female
16 years (2019 est.)