Public social spending as share of GDP in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Public social spending as share of GDP was 12.6% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Public social spending as share of GDP in Costa Rica, 2011–2022
Source: OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for public social spending as share of gdp in Costa Rica is 12.6%, measured in 2022.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and up 8.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, public social spending as share of gdp in Costa Rica peaked at 14.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 11.7%, in 2012.
Costa Rica ranks 39th of 42 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.
Public social spending as share of GDP in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 11.9% | — |
| 2012 | 11.7% | -2.0% |
| 2013 | 12.1% | +3.3% |
| 2014 | 11.9% | -1.4% |
| 2015 | 12.1% | +1.4% |
| 2016 | 11.9% | -1.3% |
| 2017 | 11.9% | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 12.4% | +4.5% |
| 2019 | 12.3% | -0.9% |
| 2020 | 14.4% | +16.6% |
| 2021 | 12.7% | -11.6% |
| 2022 | 12.6% | -0.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 12.6% is below the median for high income countries, which is 22.3%, 57% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 12.6% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 12.6%, 1.0× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12.0% | 11.7% | 12.4% | 9 |
| 2020s | 13.2% | 12.6% | 14.4% | 3 |
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 public social spending as share of gdp in Costa Rica?
- Public social spending as share of gdp in Costa Rica was 12.6% in 2022, according to OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 14.4% in 2020.
- What is the lowest public social spending as share of gdp recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.7% in 2012.
- How does Costa Rica rank for public social spending as share of gdp?
- Costa Rica ranks 39th out of 42 countries with data for 2022.
- Is public social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from OECD (2025); OECD (1985); Lindert (2004) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Public social spending as share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Public social expenditure divided bt gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.