Insecticide use in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Insecticide use was 1,729 tonnes in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
1,729 tonnes
Change on year
down 8.4%
World rank
40th
of 211 countries
All-time high
2,427 tonnes
in 2000
All-time low
254 tonnes
in 1995
Years of data
34
1990–2023

Insecticide use in Costa Rica, 1990–2023

5001.0k1.5k2.0k2.5k1990200620231990: 687 tonnes1991: 687 tonnes1992: 687 tonnes1993: 687 tonnes1994: 470 tonnes1995: 254 tonnes1996: 832 tonnes1997: 1.1k tonnes1998: 1.5k tonnes1999: 1.9k tonnes2000: 2.4k tonnes2001: 1.5k tonnes2002: 1.6k tonnes2003: 1.7k tonnes2004: 1.8k tonnes2005: 1.9k tonnes2006: 2.0k tonnes2007: 2.1k tonnes2008: 2.1k tonnes2009: 1.7k tonnes2010: 2.1k tonnes2011: 2.1k tonnes2012: 2.0k tonnes2013: 1.9k tonnes2014: 1.8k tonnes2015: 1.7k tonnes2016: 1.6k tonnes2017: 1.5k tonnes2018: 1.1k tonnes2019: 1.5k tonnes2020: 2.0k tonnes2021: 1.7k tonnes2022: 1.9k tonnes2023: 1.7k tonnes

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.

Analysis

In 2023, insecticide use in Costa Rica stood at 1,729 tonnes.

That represents a change of down 8.4% on the previous year and down 9.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, insecticide use in Costa Rica peaked at 2,427 tonnes in 2000 and was at its lowest, 254 tonnes, in 1995.

Costa Rica ranks 40th of 211 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 879.1 tonnes 254 tonnes 1,949 tonnes 10
2000s 1,877 tonnes 1,468 tonnes 2,427 tonnes 10
2010s 1,742 tonnes 1,150 tonnes 2,149 tonnes 10
2020s 1,835 tonnes 1,714 tonnes 2,009 tonnes 4

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 37 Bangladesh 1,997 tonnes compare
  2. 38 Benin 1,958 tonnes compare
  3. 39 Netherlands 1,731 tonnes compare
  4. 41 Cameroon 1,701 tonnes compare
  5. 42 Peru 1,673 tonnes compare
  6. 43 Nicaragua 1,565 tonnes compare

See the full ranking of 211 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is insecticide use in Costa Rica?
Insecticide use in Costa Rica was 1,729 tonnes 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 insecticide use recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 2,427 tonnes in 2000.
What is the lowest insecticide use recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 254 tonnes in 1995.
How does Costa Rica rank for insecticide use?
Costa Rica ranks 40th out of 211 countries with data for 2023.
Is insecticide use rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is down 9.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
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 Insecticide use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Insecticide use
Unit
tonnes
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
211 places, 7,015 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed

Annual quantity of insecticides used in agriculture, measured as the tonnes of active ingredient per year.