Tree cover loss in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Tree cover loss was 8,285 hectares in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
8,285 hectares
Change on year
down 8.4%
World rank
87th
of 197 countries
All-time high
22,283 hectares
in 2009
All-time low
3,286 hectares
in 2015
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Tree cover loss in Costa Rica, 2001–2024

5.0k10.0k15.0k20.0k2001201220242001: 15.4k hectares2002: 13.2k hectares2003: 8.2k hectares2004: 9.7k hectares2005: 16.4k hectares2006: 10.0k hectares2007: 11.4k hectares2008: 21.8k hectares2009: 22.3k hectares2010: 13.1k hectares2011: 10.4k hectares2012: 10.3k hectares2013: 7.7k hectares2014: 10.8k hectares2015: 3.3k hectares2016: 13.8k hectares2017: 22.0k hectares2018: 12.3k hectares2019: 11.5k hectares2020: 8.2k hectares2021: 7.8k hectares2022: 8.5k hectares2023: 9.0k hectares2024: 8.3k hectares

Source: Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

Costa Rica recorded 8,285 hectares for tree cover loss in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 8.4% on the previous year and down 23.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, tree cover loss in Costa Rica peaked at 22,283 hectares in 2009 and was at its lowest, 3,286 hectares, in 2015.

That places Costa Rica 87th out of 197 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 14,265 hectares 8,222 hectares 22,283 hectares 9
2010s 11,517 hectares 3,286 hectares 22,013 hectares 10
2020s 8,385 hectares 7,823 hectares 9,042 hectares 5

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 84 Solomon Islands 11,050 hectares compare
  2. 85 Cuba 10,057 hectares compare
  3. 86 Guinea-Bissau 9,293 hectares compare
  4. 88 Equatorial Guinea 7,735 hectares compare
  5. 89 Slovakia 7,624 hectares compare
  6. 90 Croatia 7,415 hectares compare

See the full ranking of 197 places →

More reference data data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is tree cover loss in Costa Rica?
Tree cover loss in Costa Rica was 8,285 hectares in 2024, according to Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest tree cover loss recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 22,283 hectares in 2009.
What is the lowest tree cover loss recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 3,286 hectares in 2015.
How does Costa Rica rank for tree cover loss?
Costa Rica ranks 87th out of 197 countries with data for 2024.
Is tree cover loss rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is down 23.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Tree cover loss. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Tree cover loss
Unit
hectares
Source
Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
197 places, 4,728 data points, 2001–2024
Last refreshed

Tree cover loss driven by all causes.