Insecticide use in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Insecticide use was 1,729 tonnes in 2023. ▲ Rising
Insecticide use in Costa Rica, 1990–2023
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.
Insecticide use in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 687 tonnes | — |
| 1991 | 687 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 687 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 687 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 470 tonnes | -31.6% |
| 1995 | 254 tonnes | -46.0% |
| 1996 | 832 tonnes | +227.6% |
| 1997 | 1,068 tonnes | +28.4% |
| 1998 | 1,470 tonnes | +37.6% |
| 1999 | 1,949 tonnes | +32.6% |
| 2000 | 2,427 tonnes | +24.5% |
| 2001 | 1,468 tonnes | -39.5% |
| 2002 | 1,577 tonnes | +7.4% |
| 2003 | 1,686 tonnes | +6.9% |
| 2004 | 1,794 tonnes | +6.4% |
| 2005 | 1,903 tonnes | +6.1% |
| 2006 | 2,012 tonnes | +5.7% |
| 2007 | 2,121 tonnes | +5.4% |
| 2008 | 2,097 tonnes | -1.1% |
| 2009 | 1,688 tonnes | -19.5% |
| 2010 | 2,149 tonnes | +27.3% |
| 2011 | 2,101 tonnes | -2.2% |
| 2012 | 2,000 tonnes | -4.8% |
| 2013 | 1,900 tonnes | -5.0% |
| 2014 | 1,799 tonnes | -5.3% |
| 2015 | 1,698 tonnes | -5.6% |
| 2016 | 1,598 tonnes | -5.9% |
| 2017 | 1,497 tonnes | -6.3% |
| 2018 | 1,150 tonnes | -23.2% |
| 2019 | 1,530 tonnes | +33.0% |
| 2020 | 2,009 tonnes | +31.3% |
| 2021 | 1,714 tonnes | -14.7% |
| 2022 | 1,888 tonnes | +10.2% |
| 2023 | 1,729 tonnes | -8.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 1,729 tonnes is above the median for high income countries, which is 90 tonnes, 19.2× the median. (73 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 1,729 tonnes is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 492 tonnes, 3.5× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Insecticide use in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | +227.6% | 254 tonnes | 832 tonnes |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | 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
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 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
Annual quantity of insecticides used in agriculture, measured as the tonnes of active ingredient per year.