Population:
5,097,988
(July 2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
123
[see also: Population country ranks ]
Nationality:
noun:
Costa Rican(s)
adjective:
Costa Rican
Ethnic groups:
white or mestizo 83.6%, mulatto 6.7%, indigenous 2.4%, black of African descent 1.1%, other 1.1%, none 2.9%, unspecified 2.2%
(2011 est.)
Languages:
Spanish (official), English
Religions:
Roman Catholic 71.8%, Evangelical and Pentecostal 12.3%, other Protestant 2.6%, Jehovah's Witness 0.5%, other 2.4%, none 10.4%
(2016 est.)
Demographic profile:
Costa Rica's political stability, high standard of living, and well-developed social benefits system set it apart from its Central American neighbors. Through the government's sustained social spending - almost 20% of GDP annually - Costa Rica has made tremendous progress toward achieving its goal of providing universal access to education, healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and electricity. Since the 1970s, expansion of these services has led to a rapid decline in infant mortality, an increase in life expectancy at birth, and a sharp decrease in the birth rate. The average number of children born per women has fallen from about 7 in the 1960s to 3.5 in the early 1980s to below replacement level today. Costa Rica's poverty rate is lower than in most Latin American countries, but it has stalled at around 20% for almost two decades.
Costa Rica is a popular regional immigration destination because of its job opportunities and social programs. Almost 9% of the population is foreign-born, with Nicaraguans comprising nearly three-quarters of the foreign population. Many Nicaraguans who perform unskilled seasonal labor enter Costa Rica illegally or overstay their visas, which continues to be a source of tension. Less than 3% of Costa Rica's population lives abroad. The overwhelming majority of expatriates have settled in the United States after completing a university degree or in order to work in a highly skilled field.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22.08%
(male 575,731/female 549,802)
[see also: Age structure - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 15.19%
(male 395,202/female 379,277)
[see also: Age structure - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 43.98%
(male 1,130,387/female 1,111,791)
[see also: Age structure - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 9.99%
(male 247,267/female 261,847)
[see also: Age structure - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 8.76%
(male 205,463/female 241,221)
(2020 est.)
[see also: Age structure - 65 years and over country ranks ]
population pyramid:
This is the population pyramid for Costa Rica. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 45.4
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio country ranks ]
youth dependency ratio: 32.4
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio country ranks ]
elderly dependency ratio: 12.9
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio country ranks ]
potential support ratio: 7.7
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - potential support ratio country ranks ]
Median age:
total: 32.6 years
[see also: Median age - total country ranks ]
male: 32.1 years
[see also: Median age - male country ranks ]
female: 33.1 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Median age - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
109
Population growth rate:
1.08%
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
99
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]
Birth rate:
14.8 births/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
122
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]
Death rate:
4.9 deaths/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
198
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]
Net migration rate:
0.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
63
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]
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
Urbanization:
urban population: 80.1% of total population
(2019)
[see also: Urbanization - urban population country ranks ]
rate of urbanization: 1.5% annual rate of change
(2015-20 est.)
[see also: Urbanization - rate of urbanization country ranks ]
Major urban areas - population:
1.379 million SAN JOSE (capital)
(2019)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - at birth country ranks ]
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 65 years and over country ranks ]
total population: 100.4 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio country ranks ]
Maternal mortality rate:
27 deaths/100,000 live births
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
116
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]
Infant mortality rate:
total: 7.5 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - total country ranks ]
male: 8.2 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - male country ranks ]
female: 6.7 deaths/1,000 live births
(2020 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
153
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 79.2 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - total population country ranks ]
male: 76.5 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - male country ranks ]
female: 82 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
58
[See also: Healthy Life Expectancy ]
[See also: Health Performance ]
Total fertility rate:
1.87 children born/woman
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
136
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]
Contraceptive prevalence rate:
77.8%
(2015)
[see also: Contraceptive prevalence rate country ranks ]
Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 99.6% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 91.9% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 97.8% of population
unimproved:
urban: 0.4% of population
rural: 8.1% of population
total: 2.2% of population
(2015 est.)
Current Health Expenditure:
7.6%
(2016)
[see also: Current Health Expenditure country ranks ]
Physicians density:
1.15 physicians/1,000 population
(2013)
[see also: Physicians density country ranks ]
Hospital bed density:
1.1 beds/1,000 population
(2014)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]
Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 95.2% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 92.3% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 94.5% of population
(2015 est.)
unimproved:
urban: 4.8% of population
(2015 est.)
rural: 7.7% of population
(2015 est.)
total: 5.5% of population
(2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.4%
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
76
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
15,000
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
90
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
<500
(2018 est.)
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk:
intermediate
(2016)
food or waterborne diseases:
bacterial diarrhea
(2016)
vectorborne diseases:
dengue fever
(2016)
note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
25.7%
(2016)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
48
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
Education expenditures:
7.4% of GDP
(2017)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
10
[see also: Children under the age of 5 years underweight country ranks ]
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8%
[see also: Literacy - total population country ranks ]
male: 97.7%
[see also: Literacy - male country ranks ]
female: 97.8%
(2015)
[see also: Literacy - female country ranks ]
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 15 years
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - total country ranks ]
male: 15 years
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
female: 16 years
(2016)
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - female country ranks ]
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
total: 20.6%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - total country ranks ]
male: 17.6%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
female: 25.9%
(2017 est.)
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
65
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Costa Rica on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Costa Rica People 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Costa Rica People 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.
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This page was last modified 27-Jan-20