International tourism, expenditures in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: International tourism, expenditures was 4.0% in 2020. ▼ Falling
International tourism, expenditures in Costa Rica, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in % of total imports.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 4.0% for international tourism, expenditures in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 39.4% on the previous year and down 18.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, expenditures in Costa Rica peaked at 9.8% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 3.8%, in 2014.
Costa Rica ranks 78th of 186 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, expenditures in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of total imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 8.5% | — |
| 1996 | 8.3% | -2.0% |
| 1997 | 8.6% | +3.3% |
| 1998 | 8.6% | +0.2% |
| 1999 | 9.8% | +14.5% |
| 2000 | 8.3% | -15.2% |
| 2001 | 6.7% | -19.9% |
| 2002 | 6.3% | -6.2% |
| 2003 | 6.6% | +5.0% |
| 2004 | 6.6% | +0.8% |
| 2005 | 6.5% | -2.5% |
| 2006 | 6.2% | -4.9% |
| 2007 | 6.7% | +9.3% |
| 2008 | 5.2% | -22.9% |
| 2009 | 4.7% | -9.7% |
| 2010 | 4.9% | +3.9% |
| 2011 | 4.1% | -16.6% |
| 2012 | 3.9% | -3.3% |
| 2013 | 3.9% | -1.6% |
| 2014 | 3.8% | -1.9% |
| 2015 | 5.2% | +38.3% |
| 2016 | 5.9% | +12.2% |
| 2017 | 7.0% | +18.3% |
| 2018 | 5.8% | -16.2% |
| 2019 | 6.6% | +12.7% |
| 2020 | 4.0% | -39.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 4.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 3.7%, 1.1× the median. (65 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 4.0% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 3.4%, 1.2× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 8.8% | 8.3% | 9.8% | 5 |
| 2000s | 6.4% | 4.7% | 8.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.1% | 3.8% | 7.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 75 Saint Kitts and Nevis 4.2% compare
- 76 Djibouti 4.1% compare
- 77 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 4.0% compare
- 79 Portugal 3.9% compare
- 80 France 3.9% compare
- 81 Saint Lucia 3.9% 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 international tourism, expenditures in Costa Rica?
- International tourism, expenditures in Costa Rica was 4.0% in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, expenditures recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 9.8% in 1999.
- What is the lowest international tourism, expenditures recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.8% in 2014.
- How does Costa Rica rank for international tourism, expenditures?
- Costa Rica ranks 78th out of 186 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, expenditures rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 (% of total imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Their share in imports is calculated as a ratio to imports of goods and services, which comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from nonresidents to residents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.