Share of land area that is protected in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Share of land area that is protected was 26.6% in 2025. ▬ Flat
Share of land area that is protected in Costa Rica, 2013–2025
Source: Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of total land area.
Analysis
In 2025, share of land area that is protected in Costa Rica stood at 26.6%.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and down 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area that is protected in Costa Rica peaked at 28.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 26.5%, in 2024.
Costa Rica ranks 55th of 213 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Share of land area that is protected in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of total land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 27.6% | — |
| 2014 | 27.6% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 27.6% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 27.6% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 27.6% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 27.6% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 28.3% | +2.5% |
| 2020 | 28.4% | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 28.4% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 26.6% | -6.3% |
| 2023 | 26.6% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 26.5% | -0.4% |
| 2025 | 26.6% | +0.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 26.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 21.5%, 1.2× the median. (83 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 26.6% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 17.7%, 1.5× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 27.7% | 27.6% | 28.3% | 7 |
| 2020s | 27.2% | 26.5% | 28.4% | 6 |
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 land area that is protected in Costa Rica?
- Share of land area that is protected in Costa Rica was 26.6% in 2025, according to Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of land area that is protected recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 28.4% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of land area that is protected recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 26.5% in 2024.
- How does Costa Rica rank for share of land area that is protected?
- Costa Rica ranks 55th out of 213 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of land area that is protected rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Protected Planet WDPA and WD-OECM data, UNEP-WCMC and IUCN, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land area that is protected. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Terrestrial protected areas are areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated by national authorities in order to preserve their ecosystem services and cultural values.