International tourism, receipts in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: International tourism, receipts was 7.4% in 2020. ▼ Falling
International tourism, receipts in Costa Rica, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in % of total exports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for international tourism, receipts in Costa Rica is 7.4%, measured in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
The figure is down 60.7% on the previous year and down 61.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, receipts in Costa Rica peaked at 25.1% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 7.4%, in 2020.
That places Costa Rica 78th out of 183 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, receipts in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of total exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 20.7% | — |
| 1996 | 19.6% | -5.1% |
| 1997 | 19.9% | +1.7% |
| 1998 | 19.8% | -0.9% |
| 1999 | 20.2% | +2.2% |
| 2000 | 25.1% | +24.4% |
| 2001 | 22.7% | -9.5% |
| 2002 | 21.9% | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 22.3% | +1.9% |
| 2004 | 22.2% | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 22.9% | +3.1% |
| 2006 | 20.9% | -8.9% |
| 2007 | 22.3% | +7.0% |
| 2008 | 23.2% | +3.9% |
| 2009 | 20.6% | -11.4% |
| 2010 | 19.4% | -5.7% |
| 2011 | 18.8% | -3.1% |
| 2012 | 18.3% | -2.5% |
| 2013 | 20.1% | +9.4% |
| 2014 | 18.9% | -5.5% |
| 2015 | 19.9% | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 20.3% | +1.9% |
| 2017 | 19.4% | -4.4% |
| 2018 | 19.0% | -2.1% |
| 2019 | 18.8% | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 7.4% | -60.7% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 7.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 4.2%, 1.8× the median. (65 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 7.4% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 8.5%, 87% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where International tourism, receipts 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 | -60.7% | 18.8% | 7.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 20.0% | 19.6% | 20.7% | 5 |
| 2000s | 22.4% | 20.6% | 25.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 19.3% | 18.3% | 20.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.4% | 7.4% | 7.4% | 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)
- 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, receipts in Costa Rica?
- International tourism, receipts in Costa Rica was 7.4% in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, receipts recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 25.1% in 2000.
- What is the lowest international tourism, receipts recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.4% in 2020.
- How does Costa Rica rank for international tourism, receipts?
- Costa Rica ranks 78th out of 183 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, receipts rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 61.9%. 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, receipts (% of total exports). 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 receipts are expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport. These receipts include any other prepayment made for goods or services received in the destination country. They also may include receipts from same-day visitors, except when these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include receipts for passenger transport items. Their share in exports is calculated as a ratio to exports 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 residents to nonresidents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.