Insurance and financial services in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Insurance and financial services was 10.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Insurance and financial services in Costa Rica, 1977–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service imports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for insurance and financial services in Costa Rica is 10.1%, measured in 2025.
The figure is up 1.2% on the previous year and down 19.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, insurance and financial services in Costa Rica peaked at 17.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 2.4%, in 1991.
That places Costa Rica 53rd out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 49 years of available data.
Insurance and financial services in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 7.9% | — |
| 1978 | 7.7% | -2.8% |
| 1979 | 7.6% | -1.8% |
| 1980 | 6.9% | -9.0% |
| 1981 | 8.2% | +18.9% |
| 1982 | 6.2% | -24.3% |
| 1983 | 7.0% | +13.5% |
| 1984 | 8.5% | +20.9% |
| 1985 | 8.1% | -4.7% |
| 1986 | 8.6% | +6.6% |
| 1987 | 7.2% | -16.9% |
| 1988 | 7.6% | +5.2% |
| 1989 | 6.7% | -10.8% |
| 1990 | 6.0% | -10.7% |
| 1991 | 2.4% | -60.9% |
| 1992 | 6.1% | +160.8% |
| 1993 | 6.4% | +4.9% |
| 1994 | 6.4% | -0.7% |
| 1995 | 4.6% | -27.7% |
| 1996 | 4.0% | -12.6% |
| 1997 | 4.2% | +3.5% |
| 1998 | 3.3% | -22.1% |
| 1999 | 3.8% | +16.3% |
| 2000 | 17.0% | +348.5% |
| 2001 | 14.0% | -17.2% |
| 2002 | 11.5% | -18.5% |
| 2003 | 9.9% | -13.3% |
| 2004 | 10.6% | +6.6% |
| 2005 | 12.7% | +19.8% |
| 2006 | 14.7% | +16.2% |
| 2007 | 13.2% | -10.3% |
| 2008 | 13.7% | +3.6% |
| 2009 | 13.5% | -1.8% |
| 2010 | 10.7% | -20.4% |
| 2011 | 10.5% | -2.3% |
| 2012 | 10.0% | -4.7% |
| 2013 | 12.7% | +27.2% |
| 2014 | 14.2% | +11.5% |
| 2015 | 12.6% | -11.4% |
| 2016 | 11.5% | -8.5% |
| 2017 | 10.4% | -9.7% |
| 2018 | 10.1% | -2.3% |
| 2019 | 11.2% | +10.2% |
| 2020 | 15.1% | +35.2% |
| 2021 | 12.1% | -20.0% |
| 2022 | 7.2% | -40.5% |
| 2023 | 10.7% | +48.7% |
| 2024 | 10.0% | -6.8% |
| 2025 | 10.1% | +1.2% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 10.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 6.4%, 1.6× the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 10.1% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 10.1%, 100% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Insurance and financial services 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | +348.5% | 3.8% | 17.0% |
| 1992 | +160.8% | 2.4% | 6.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 7.7% | 7.6% | 7.9% | 3 |
| 1980s | 7.5% | 6.2% | 8.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.7% | 2.4% | 6.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 13.1% | 9.9% | 17.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.4% | 10.0% | 14.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.8% | 7.2% | 15.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 50 Antigua and Barbuda 10.2% compare
- 51 Turks and Caicos Islands 10.1% compare
- 52 Sierra Leone 10.1% compare
- 54 Sao Tome and Principe 9.8% compare
- 55 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 9.8% compare
- 56 Armenia 9.7% compare
More private sector data for Costa Rica
- Merchandise trade 52.4% (2025)
- Food imports 13.2% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 73.9% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 27.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 32.3% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 64.9% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 26.43 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 5,129 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2568 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 21.87 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is insurance and financial services in Costa Rica?
- Insurance and financial services in Costa Rica was 10.1% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest insurance and financial services recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 17.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest insurance and financial services recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.4% in 1991.
- How does Costa Rica rank for insurance and financial services?
- Costa Rica ranks 53rd out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is insurance and financial services rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 49 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Financial services covers services related to financial intermediation, financial risk management, liquidity transformation or auxiliary financial activities. It also includes insurance and pension scheme services which are services related to providing life insurance and annuities, non-life insurance, reinsurance, pensions, standardised guarantees and auxiliary services to insurance, pension schemes, and standardised guarantee schemes. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.