International tourism, number of departures in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: International tourism, number of departures was 324,000 in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of departures in Costa Rica, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, number of departures in Costa Rica stood at 324,000.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 71.9% on the previous year and down 51.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of departures in Costa Rica peaked at 1.15 million in 2019 and was at its lowest, 273,000, in 1995.
Costa Rica ranks 90th of 117 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, number of departures in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 273,000 | — |
| 1996 | 283,000 | +3.7% |
| 1997 | 288,000 | +1.8% |
| 1998 | 330,000 | +14.6% |
| 1999 | 353,000 | +7.0% |
| 2000 | 381,000 | +7.9% |
| 2001 | 361,000 | -5.2% |
| 2002 | 364,000 | +0.8% |
| 2003 | 373,000 | +2.5% |
| 2004 | 425,000 | +13.9% |
| 2005 | 487,000 | +14.6% |
| 2006 | 485,000 | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 577,000 | +19.0% |
| 2008 | 528,000 | -8.5% |
| 2009 | 579,000 | +9.7% |
| 2010 | 662,000 | +14.3% |
| 2011 | 717,000 | +8.3% |
| 2012 | 773,000 | +7.8% |
| 2013 | 790,000 | +2.2% |
| 2014 | 798,000 | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 919,000 | +15.2% |
| 2016 | 1.04 million | +12.7% |
| 2017 | 1.15 million | +11.0% |
| 2018 | 1.08 million | -6.2% |
| 2019 | 1.15 million | +6.9% |
| 2020 | 324,000 | -71.9% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 324,000 is below the median for high income countries, which is 2.67 million, 12% of the median. (56 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 324,000 is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 703,000, 46% of the median. (21 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where International tourism, number of departures 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -71.9% | 1.15 million | 324,000 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 305,400 | 273,000 | 353,000 | 5 |
| 2000s | 456,000 | 361,000 | 579,000 | 10 |
| 2010s | 907,700 | 662,000 | 1.15 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 324,000 | 324,000 | 324,000 | 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, number of departures in Costa Rica?
- International tourism, number of departures in Costa Rica was 324,000 in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 1.15 million in 2019.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 273,000 in 1995.
- How does Costa Rica rank for international tourism, number of departures?
- Costa Rica ranks 90th out of 117 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of departures rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 51.1%. 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, number of departures. 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 outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.