Transport services in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Transport services was 5.6% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Transport services in Costa Rica, 1977–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service exports.
Analysis
In 2025, transport services in Costa Rica stood at 5.6%.
That represents a change of down 8.4% on the previous year and down 12.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, transport services in Costa Rica peaked at 28.6% in 1977 and was at its lowest, 5.3%, in 2017.
That places Costa Rica 158th out of 198 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 49 years of available data.
Transport services in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 28.6% | — |
| 1978 | 20.9% | -27.2% |
| 1979 | 22.2% | +6.6% |
| 1980 | 26.4% | +18.7% |
| 1981 | 20.3% | -23.0% |
| 1982 | 24.4% | +20.0% |
| 1983 | 22.2% | -9.1% |
| 1984 | 23.5% | +6.1% |
| 1985 | 19.2% | -18.4% |
| 1986 | 19.0% | -1.3% |
| 1987 | 18.0% | -5.2% |
| 1988 | 17.8% | -0.7% |
| 1989 | 17.0% | -4.7% |
| 1990 | 16.3% | -4.2% |
| 1991 | 15.9% | -2.4% |
| 1992 | 16.5% | +3.9% |
| 1993 | 14.7% | -11.0% |
| 1994 | 14.8% | +0.9% |
| 1995 | 12.1% | -18.7% |
| 1996 | 11.4% | -5.1% |
| 1997 | 13.2% | +15.3% |
| 1998 | 9.7% | -26.3% |
| 1999 | 7.0% | -28.3% |
| 2000 | 12.7% | +82.7% |
| 2001 | 12.4% | -2.4% |
| 2002 | 11.3% | -8.6% |
| 2003 | 10.6% | -6.8% |
| 2004 | 9.3% | -12.3% |
| 2005 | 8.9% | -4.4% |
| 2006 | 8.9% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 9.1% | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 9.7% | +7.3% |
| 2009 | 9.7% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 8.2% | -15.7% |
| 2011 | 8.4% | +2.8% |
| 2012 | 8.7% | +4.0% |
| 2013 | 7.8% | -10.7% |
| 2014 | 6.2% | -21.0% |
| 2015 | 6.5% | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 5.9% | -8.5% |
| 2017 | 5.3% | -10.3% |
| 2018 | 8.7% | +64.8% |
| 2019 | 8.5% | -2.6% |
| 2020 | 6.3% | -25.5% |
| 2021 | 5.4% | -14.6% |
| 2022 | 6.8% | +24.7% |
| 2023 | 6.4% | -4.8% |
| 2024 | 6.1% | -4.4% |
| 2025 | 5.6% | -8.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 23.9% | 20.9% | 28.6% | 3 |
| 1980s | 20.8% | 17.0% | 26.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 13.2% | 7.0% | 16.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.3% | 8.9% | 12.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.4% | 5.3% | 8.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.1% | 5.4% | 6.8% | 6 |
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 transport services in Costa Rica?
- Transport services in Costa Rica was 5.6% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest transport services recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 28.6% in 1977.
- What is the lowest transport services recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.3% in 2017.
- How does Costa Rica rank for transport services?
- Costa Rica ranks 158th out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is transport services rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Transport services (% of commercial service exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 49 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Transport is the process of carriage of people and objects from one location to another as well as related supporting and auxiliary services. Also included are postal and courier services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.