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Costa Rica — Population growth
Population Growth (Annual %) for Costa Rica, 1961–2025.
Latest value · 2025
0.45%
Population Growth (Annual %) · annual % · -88.0% since 1961
Population growth for Costa Rica was 0.45% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 65 years, from 1961 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 3.73% in 1961. The lowest was 0.43% in 2022 (about 1.0× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -3.26% per year.
Costa Rica ranks 143 of 217 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 66%. The median for Latin America & Caribbean is 0.48%, so Costa Rica sits below it. It peaked in 1961 and has fallen 88% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 58%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
0.45%
First (1961)
3.73%
Change
-88.0%
Highest
3.73%
in 1961
Lowest
0.43%
in 2022
Average
2.09%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-3.26%
Years of data
65
Recent years
| Year | annual % |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.45% |
| 2024 | 0.48% |
| 2023 | 0.47% |
| 2022 | 0.43% |
| 2021 | 0.51% |
| 2020 | 0.69% |
| 2019 | 0.84% |
| 2018 | 0.9% |
| 2017 | 0.94% |
| 2016 | 1.01% |
| 2015 | 1.06% |
| 2014 | 1.07% |
Reading this correctly. Annual population growth rate. A negative value means the population shrank, usually through emigration or low birth rates. Figures are in annual %. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SP.POP.GROW — Population Growth (Annual %). Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.