Number of public paid employees in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Number of public paid employees was 6,580 in 2021. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2021)
6,580
Change on year
up 29.3%
World rank
22nd
of 80 countries
All-time high
6,722
in 2017
All-time low
1,975
in 2012
Years of data
19
2000–2021

Number of public paid employees in Costa Rica, 2000–2021

2.0k3.0k4.0k5.0k6.0k7.0k2000201020212000: 2.0k2001: 2.0k2002: 2.1k2003: 2.1k2004: 2.1k2005: 2.3k2006: 2.3k2007: 2.4k2008: 2.4k2009: 2.8k2010: 2.1k2012: 2.0k2015: 2.3k2016: 2.2k2017: 6.7k2018: 6.0k2019: 5.9k2020: 5.1k2021: 6.6k

Source: World Bank.

Analysis

The most recent figure for number of public paid employees in Costa Rica is 6,580, measured in 2021.

The figure is up 29.3% on the previous year and up 216.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of public paid employees in Costa Rica peaked at 6,722 in 2017 and was at its lowest, 1,975, in 2012.

Costa Rica ranks 22nd of 80 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Number of public paid employees in Costa Rica, year by year

Annual values for Number of public paid employees in Costa Rica, 2000 to 2021.
Year Value Change
2000 1,977
2001 2,033 +2.8%
2002 2,129 +4.7%
2003 2,082 -2.2%
2004 2,113 +1.5%
2005 2,268 +7.3%
2006 2,306 +1.7%
2007 2,366 +2.6%
2008 2,392 +1.1%
2009 2,755 +15.2%
2010 2,077 -24.6%
2012 1,975 -4.9%
2015 2,273 +15.1%
2016 2,178 -4.2%
2017 6,722 +208.6%
2018 6,020 -10.4%
2019 5,948 -1.2%
2020 5,088 -14.5%
2021 6,580 +29.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 2,242 1,977 2,755 10
2010s 3,885 1,975 6,722 7
2020s 5,834 5,088 6,580 2

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 19 Tunisia 7,011 compare
  2. 20 Morocco 6,844 compare
  3. 21 El Salvador 6,798 compare
  4. 23 Maldives 4,060 compare
  5. 24 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 3,926 compare
  6. 25 Spain 3,786 compare

See the full ranking of 80 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of public paid employees in Costa Rica?
Number of public paid employees in Costa Rica was 6,580 in 2021, according to the World Bank.
What is the highest number of public paid employees recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 6,722 in 2017.
What is the lowest number of public paid employees recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 1,975 in 2012.
How does Costa Rica rank for number of public paid employees?
Costa Rica ranks 22nd out of 80 countries with data for 2021.
Is number of public paid employees rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 216.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Number of public paid employees. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Number of public paid employees in Costa Rica. Statizoid. Retrieved 27 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-public-paid-employees/costa-rica/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-public-paid-employees/costa-rica/">Number of public paid employees in Costa Rica</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Number of public paid employees
Source
World Bank
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
80 places, 1,013 data points, 2000–2022
Last refreshed