Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Share of population living in urban and rural areas was 73.7% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Costa Rica, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 73.7% for share of population living in urban and rural areas in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in urban and rural areas in Costa Rica peaked at 73.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 41.2%, in 1950.
Costa Rica ranks 120th of 236 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 41.2% | — |
| 1955 | 45.0% | +9.3% |
| 1960 | 49.2% | +9.4% |
| 1965 | 53.4% | +8.5% |
| 1970 | 56.9% | +6.5% |
| 1975 | 59.9% | +5.2% |
| 1980 | 62.1% | +3.8% |
| 1985 | 64.3% | +3.5% |
| 1990 | 67.1% | +4.4% |
| 1995 | 69.7% | +3.8% |
| 2000 | 71.9% | +3.2% |
| 2005 | 72.7% | +1.1% |
| 2010 | 73.2% | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 73.4% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 73.7% | +0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 43.1% | 41.2% | 45.0% | 2 |
| 1960s | 51.3% | 49.2% | 53.4% | 2 |
| 1970s | 58.4% | 56.9% | 59.9% | 2 |
| 1980s | 63.2% | 62.1% | 64.3% | 2 |
| 1990s | 68.4% | 67.1% | 69.7% | 2 |
| 2000s | 72.3% | 71.9% | 72.7% | 2 |
| 2010s | 73.3% | 73.2% | 73.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 73.7% | 73.7% | 73.7% | 1 |
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 share of population living in urban and rural areas in Costa Rica?
- Share of population living in urban and rural areas in Costa Rica was 73.7% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in urban and rural areas recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 73.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in urban and rural areas recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 41.2% in 1950.
- How does Costa Rica rank for share of population living in urban and rural areas?
- Costa Rica ranks 120th out of 236 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in urban and rural areas rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in urban and rural areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in urban areas (the sum of cities and towns and suburbs). Urban areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.