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Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Adequacy of social safety net programs was 15.0% in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
15.0%
Change on year
down 6.2%
World rank
9th
of 33 countries
All-time high
23.3%
in 2020
All-time low
11.7%
in 2011
Years of data
13
2008–2022

Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica, 2008–2022

05101520252008201520222008: 21.9 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2010: 12 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2011: 11.7 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2012: 12.4 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2014: 14 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2015: 14 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2016: 14.8 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2017: 14.5 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2018: 14.8 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2019: 14.5 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2020: 23.3 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2021: 16 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2022: 15 % of total welfare of beneficiary households

Source: ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection, World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of total welfare of beneficiary households.

Analysis

The most recent figure for adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica is 15.0%, measured in 2022.

The figure is down 6.2% on the previous year and up 21.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica peaked at 23.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 11.7%, in 2011.

Costa Rica ranks 9th of 33 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 21.9% 21.9% 21.9% 1
2010s 13.6% 11.7% 14.8% 9
2020s 18.1% 15.0% 23.3% 3

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 6 Kazakhstan 19.8% compare
  2. 7 Kyrgyz Republic 16.9% compare
  3. 8 Chile 16.8% compare
  4. 10 Ecuador 14.8% compare
  5. 11 Romania 14.6% compare
  6. 12 Belarus 13.4% compare

See the full ranking of 33 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica?
Adequacy of social safety net programs in Costa Rica was 15.0% in 2022, according to ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection, World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest adequacy of social safety net programs recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 23.3% in 2020.
What is the lowest adequacy of social safety net programs recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 11.7% in 2011.
How does Costa Rica rank for adequacy of social safety net programs?
Costa Rica ranks 9th out of 33 countries with data for 2022.
Is adequacy of social safety net programs rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 21.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection, World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Adequacy of social safety net programs. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Adequacy of social safety net programs
Unit
% of total welfare of beneficiary households
Source
ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection, World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
33 places, 338 data points, 2004–2023
Last refreshed

Adequacy of social safety net programs is measured by the total transfer amount received by the population participating in social safety net programs as a share of their total welfare. Social safety net programs include cash transfers, social pensions, cash transfers, school feeding, and other social assistance programs.