Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures was 22.48 percent in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
22.48 percent
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
72nd
of 209 countries
All-time high
43.67 percent
in 1984
All-time low
17.92 percent
in 1961
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Costa Rica, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.
Analysis
In 2023, share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Costa Rica stood at 22.48 percent.
That represents a change of down 8.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Costa Rica peaked at 43.67 percent in 1984 and was at its lowest, 17.92 percent, in 1961.
That places Costa Rica 72nd out of 209 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | percent | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 17.92 percent | — |
| 1962 | 18.12 percent | +1.1% |
| 1963 | 18.31 percent | +1.0% |
| 1964 | 19.58 percent | +6.9% |
| 1965 | 20.96 percent | +7.0% |
| 1966 | 22.52 percent | +7.4% |
| 1967 | 22.52 percent | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 24.09 percent | +7.0% |
| 1969 | 25.46 percent | +5.7% |
| 1970 | 26.69 percent | +4.8% |
| 1971 | 27.22 percent | +2.0% |
| 1972 | 27.22 percent | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 30.51 percent | +12.1% |
| 1974 | 30.51 percent | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 31.92 percent | +4.6% |
| 1976 | 33.49 percent | +4.9% |
| 1977 | 35.06 percent | +4.7% |
| 1978 | 36.43 percent | +3.9% |
| 1979 | 37.99 percent | +4.3% |
| 1980 | 39.37 percent | +3.6% |
| 1981 | 40.93 percent | +4.0% |
| 1982 | 42.44 percent | +3.7% |
| 1983 | 42.44 percent | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 43.67 percent | +2.9% |
| 1985 | 42.26 percent | -3.2% |
| 1986 | 40.85 percent | -3.3% |
| 1987 | 39.42 percent | -3.5% |
| 1988 | 37.99 percent | -3.6% |
| 1989 | 36.58 percent | -3.7% |
| 1990 | 33.07 percent | -9.6% |
| 1991 | 33.07 percent | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 32.31 percent | -2.3% |
| 1993 | 31.59 percent | -2.2% |
| 1994 | 30.85 percent | -2.3% |
| 1995 | 30.12 percent | -2.4% |
| 1996 | 29.38 percent | -2.5% |
| 1997 | 28.65 percent | -2.5% |
| 1998 | 27.91 percent | -2.6% |
| 1999 | 27.18 percent | -2.6% |
| 2000 | 26.44 percent | -2.7% |
| 2001 | 26.3 percent | -0.5% |
| 2002 | 26.17 percent | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 26.03 percent | -0.5% |
| 2004 | 25.89 percent | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 25.75 percent | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 25.66 percent | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 25.46 percent | -0.8% |
| 2008 | 25.32 percent | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 25.19 percent | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 25.05 percent | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 24.91 percent | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 24.77 percent | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 24.48 percent | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 24.17 percent | -1.3% |
| 2015 | 23.87 percent | -1.2% |
| 2016 | 23.68 percent | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 23.48 percent | -0.8% |
| 2018 | 23.28 percent | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 23.08 percent | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 22.88 percent | -0.9% |
| 2021 | 22.68 percent | -0.9% |
| 2022 | 22.48 percent | -0.9% |
| 2023 | 22.48 percent | +0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 22.48 percent is above the median for high income countries, which is 9.66 percent, 2.3× the median. (71 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 22.48 percent is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 15.19 percent, 1.5× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 21.05 percent | 17.92 percent | 25.46 percent | 9 |
| 1970s | 31.7 percent | 26.69 percent | 37.99 percent | 10 |
| 1980s | 40.59 percent | 36.58 percent | 43.67 percent | 10 |
| 1990s | 30.41 percent | 27.18 percent | 33.07 percent | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.82 percent | 25.19 percent | 26.44 percent | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.08 percent | 23.08 percent | 25.05 percent | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.63 percent | 22.48 percent | 22.88 percent | 4 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 69 Ghana 22.79 percent compare
- 70 Niger 22.72 percent compare
- 71 Netherlands 22.51 percent compare
- 73 Burkina Faso 21.93 percent compare
- 74 Liechtenstein 21.5 percent compare
- 75 Jamaica 21.14 percent compare
More reference data data for Costa Rica
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.2987 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.406 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0167 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 1.27 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.3161 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.24 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 5.91 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0907 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Costa Rica?
- Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Costa Rica was 22.48 percent in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 43.67 percent in 1984.
- What is the lowest share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.92 percent in 1961.
- How does Costa Rica rank for share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures?
- Costa Rica ranks 72nd out of 209 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Permanent meadows and pastures are areas used permanently (five years or more) for herbaceous forage crops, either cultivated or growing wild (wild prairie or grazing land).