Costa Rica vs Panama: Travel services
Travel services over time
- Costa Rica
- Panama
How they compare
Panama currently reports 32.8% against 30.9% in Costa Rica, a difference of 1.9%.
That makes Panama's figure about 1.1 times Costa Rica's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 49 shared years of data; in 1977 it was Costa Rica ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 118th and Panama ranks 115th of 198 countries.
Across the 6 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 5 and Panama in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Panama | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 51.4% | 45.0% | 6.4% | Costa Rica |
| 1980s | 49.0% | 20.1% | 28.9% | Costa Rica |
| 1990s | 51.1% | 22.2% | 28.9% | Costa Rica |
| 2000s | 57.1% | 23.8% | 33.3% | Costa Rica |
| 2010s | 41.6% | 32.2% | 9.5% | Costa Rica |
| 2020s | 26.5% | 27.3% | 0.8% | Panama |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher travel services, Costa Rica or Panama?
- Panama, at 32.8% against 30.9% in Costa Rica as of 2025.
- What is the difference in travel services between Costa Rica and Panama?
- 1.9%, with Panama ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Panama?
- 49 years are reported by both, from 1977 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and Panama rank globally for travel services?
- Costa Rica ranks 118th and Panama ranks 115th of 198 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as Travel services (% of commercial service exports). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.