International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) was 300.00 million current US$ in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, expenditures for travel items in Costa Rica, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in current US$.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 300.00 million current US$ for international tourism, expenditures for travel items in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 68.4% on the previous year and down 28.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, expenditures for travel items in Costa Rica peaked at 1.04 billion current US$ in 2017 and was at its lowest, 300.00 million current US$, in 2020.
That places Costa Rica 94th out of 191 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | current US$ | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 323.00 million current US$ | — |
| 1996 | 336.00 million current US$ | +4.0% |
| 1997 | 348.00 million current US$ | +3.6% |
| 1998 | 409.00 million current US$ | +17.5% |
| 1999 | 447.00 million current US$ | +9.3% |
| 2000 | 479.00 million current US$ | +7.2% |
| 2001 | 360.00 million current US$ | -24.8% |
| 2002 | 341.00 million current US$ | -5.3% |
| 2003 | 349.00 million current US$ | +2.3% |
| 2004 | 401.00 million current US$ | +14.9% |
| 2005 | 463.00 million current US$ | +15.5% |
| 2006 | 479.00 million current US$ | +3.5% |
| 2007 | 625.00 million current US$ | +30.5% |
| 2008 | 586.00 million current US$ | -6.2% |
| 2009 | 363.00 million current US$ | -38.1% |
| 2010 | 418.00 million current US$ | +15.2% |
| 2011 | 400.00 million current US$ | -4.3% |
| 2012 | 422.00 million current US$ | +5.5% |
| 2013 | 425.00 million current US$ | +0.7% |
| 2014 | 450.00 million current US$ | +5.9% |
| 2015 | 690.00 million current US$ | +53.3% |
| 2016 | 803.00 million current US$ | +16.4% |
| 2017 | 1.04 billion current US$ | +30.0% |
| 2018 | 838.00 million current US$ | -19.7% |
| 2019 | 950.00 million current US$ | +13.4% |
| 2020 | 300.00 million current US$ | -68.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 300.00 million current US$ is below the median for high income countries, which is 1.16 billion current US$, 26% of the median. (69 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 300.00 million current US$ is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 142.00 million current US$, 2.1× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 372.60 million current US$ | 323.00 million current US$ | 447.00 million current US$ | 5 |
| 2000s | 444.60 million current US$ | 341.00 million current US$ | 625.00 million current US$ | 10 |
| 2010s | 644.00 million current US$ | 400.00 million current US$ | 1.04 billion current US$ | 10 |
| 2020s | 300.00 million current US$ | 300.00 million current US$ | 300.00 million current US$ | 1 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
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)
- Commercial service imports 8.60 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 32.3% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 64.9% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 26.43 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 18.05 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 5,129 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, expenditures for travel items in Costa Rica?
- International tourism, expenditures for travel items in Costa Rica was 300.00 million current US$ in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, expenditures for travel items recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 1.04 billion current US$ in 2017.
- What is the lowest international tourism, expenditures for travel items recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 300.00 million current US$ in 2020.
- How does Costa Rica rank for international tourism, expenditures for travel items?
- Costa Rica ranks 94th out of 191 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, expenditures for travel items rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries. The goods and services are purchased by, or on behalf of, the traveler or provided, without a quid pro quo, for the traveler to use or give away. These may include expenditures by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are so important as to justify a separate classification. Excluded is the international carriage of travelers, which is covered in passenger travel items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.