Wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Wealth share of the richest 1% was 28.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica, 1980–2024
Source: World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica is 28.7%, measured in 2024.
The figure is down 7.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica peaked at 38.3% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 28.6%, in 2022.
That places Costa Rica 64th out of 215 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 45 years of available data.
Wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 30.4% | — |
| 1981 | 30.4% | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 30.4% | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 30.4% | -0.2% |
| 1984 | 30.4% | +0.1% |
| 1985 | 30.4% | -0.0% |
| 1986 | 30.4% | -0.1% |
| 1987 | 30.4% | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 30.4% | -0.0% |
| 1989 | 30.4% | -0.1% |
| 1990 | 30.4% | +0.1% |
| 1991 | 30.4% | -0.2% |
| 1992 | 30.4% | -0.0% |
| 1993 | 30.4% | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 30.4% | +0.1% |
| 1995 | 30.4% | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 30.4% | -0.1% |
| 1997 | 30.4% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 30.4% | -0.2% |
| 1999 | 30.4% | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 30.5% | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 30.4% | -0.2% |
| 2002 | 30.4% | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 30.4% | -0.2% |
| 2004 | 30.4% | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 30.5% | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 30.4% | -0.1% |
| 2007 | 30.4% | +0.1% |
| 2008 | 30.5% | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 30.5% | -0.0% |
| 2010 | 30.4% | -0.2% |
| 2011 | 30.6% | +0.6% |
| 2012 | 30.0% | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 31.1% | +3.7% |
| 2014 | 31.1% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 31.8% | +2.2% |
| 2016 | 33.7% | +6.0% |
| 2017 | 31.1% | -7.7% |
| 2018 | 30.9% | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 34.2% | +10.9% |
| 2020 | 37.4% | +9.3% |
| 2021 | 38.3% | +2.4% |
| 2022 | 28.6% | -25.4% |
| 2023 | 28.7% | +0.4% |
| 2024 | 28.7% | +0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 28.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 27.5%, 1.0× the median. (79 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 28.7% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 30.6%, 94% of the median. (40 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -25.4% | 38.3% | 28.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 30.4% | 30.4% | 30.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 30.4% | 30.4% | 30.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 30.4% | 30.4% | 30.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 31.5% | 30.0% | 34.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 32.3% | 28.6% | 38.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 61 Sao Tome and Principe 28.9% compare
- 62 Comoros 28.8% compare
- 63 Central African Republic 28.8% compare
- 65 Egypt 28.6% compare
- 66 South Sudan 28.6% compare
- 67 Canada 28.6% compare
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 wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica?
- Wealth share of the richest 1% in Costa Rica was 28.7% in 2024, according to World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest wealth share of the richest 1% recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 38.3% in 2021.
- What is the lowest wealth share of the richest 1% recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 28.6% in 2022.
- How does Costa Rica rank for wealth share of the richest 1%?
- Costa Rica ranks 64th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is wealth share of the richest 1% rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from World Inequality Database (WID.world) (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Wealth share of the richest 1%. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Share of wealth owned by the richest 1% of the population. Wealth is defined as the total value of non-financial and financial assets (housing, land, deposits, bonds, equities, etc.) held by households, minus their debts.