Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region was 21.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Costa Rica, 1960–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise exports.
Analysis
In 2023, merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Costa Rica stood at 21.1%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 6.0% on the previous year and up 1.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Costa Rica peaked at 31.2% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 4.2%, in 1962.
Costa Rica ranks 77th of 203 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 4.2% | — |
| 1961 | 5.6% | +33.9% |
| 1962 | 4.2% | -26.4% |
| 1963 | 4.4% | +6.0% |
| 1964 | 13.7% | +210.9% |
| 1965 | 18.9% | +37.7% |
| 1966 | 20.8% | +10.4% |
| 1967 | 20.1% | -3.6% |
| 1968 | 22.2% | +10.4% |
| 1969 | 21.1% | -4.7% |
| 1970 | 21.9% | +3.8% |
| 1971 | 22.3% | +1.6% |
| 1972 | 21.3% | -4.5% |
| 1973 | 24.1% | +13.2% |
| 1974 | 26.3% | +9.1% |
| 1975 | 26.1% | -0.9% |
| 1976 | 25.9% | -0.8% |
| 1977 | 23.6% | -8.6% |
| 1978 | 25.9% | +9.6% |
| 1979 | 22.8% | -11.9% |
| 1980 | 31.2% | +36.5% |
| 1981 | 30.7% | -1.6% |
| 1982 | 23.2% | -24.3% |
| 1983 | 25.9% | +11.6% |
| 1984 | 22.7% | -12.4% |
| 1985 | 18.5% | -18.5% |
| 1986 | 13.1% | -29.0% |
| 1987 | 12.4% | -5.8% |
| 1988 | 13.1% | +6.0% |
| 1989 | 13.6% | +3.9% |
| 1990 | 13.0% | -4.5% |
| 1991 | 14.4% | +10.7% |
| 1992 | 18.1% | +26.0% |
| 1993 | 12.0% | -34.0% |
| 1994 | 17.8% | +48.9% |
| 1995 | 17.8% | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 20.3% | +13.7% |
| 1997 | 21.3% | +5.2% |
| 1998 | 22.6% | +6.0% |
| 1999 | 26.5% | +17.5% |
| 2000 | 15.1% | -43.0% |
| 2001 | 18.5% | +22.2% |
| 2002 | 19.4% | +4.8% |
| 2003 | 18.2% | -5.8% |
| 2004 | 20.5% | +12.7% |
| 2005 | 20.6% | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 19.7% | -4.0% |
| 2007 | 20.6% | +4.3% |
| 2008 | 21.9% | +6.2% |
| 2009 | 21.0% | -4.1% |
| 2010 | 22.7% | +8.2% |
| 2011 | 22.5% | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 21.7% | -3.6% |
| 2013 | 20.9% | -3.9% |
| 2014 | 21.4% | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 25.7% | +19.7% |
| 2016 | 24.8% | -3.5% |
| 2017 | 24.2% | -2.4% |
| 2018 | 22.8% | -5.6% |
| 2019 | 22.0% | -3.5% |
| 2020 | 21.3% | -3.2% |
| 2021 | 22.5% | +5.4% |
| 2022 | 22.4% | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 21.1% | -6.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 21.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 5.7%, 3.7× the median. (71 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 21.1% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 14.5%, 1.5× the median. (36 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | +210.9% | 4.4% | 13.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 13.5% | 4.2% | 22.2% | 10 |
| 1970s | 24.0% | 21.3% | 26.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 20.4% | 12.4% | 31.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.4% | 12.0% | 26.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 19.5% | 15.1% | 21.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 22.9% | 20.9% | 25.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 21.8% | 21.1% | 22.5% | 4 |
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 merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Costa Rica?
- Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Costa Rica was 21.1% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 31.2% in 1980.
- What is the lowest merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.2% in 1962.
- How does Costa Rica rank for merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region?
- Costa Rica ranks 77th out of 203 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region as a percentage of total merchandise exports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies.