Transport services (% of commercial service imports) in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Transport services (% of commercial service imports) was 21.8% 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 imports.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 21.8% for transport services in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 49 years on record.
That represents a change of down 4.2% on the previous year and down 33.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, transport services in Costa Rica peaked at 59.5% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 21.8%, in 2025.
That places Costa Rica 134th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 49 years of available data.
Transport services (% of commercial service imports) in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 54.9% | — |
| 1978 | 53.9% | -1.8% |
| 1979 | 56.1% | +4.0% |
| 1980 | 59.5% | +6.0% |
| 1981 | 56.7% | -4.7% |
| 1982 | 52.7% | -7.1% |
| 1983 | 50.7% | -3.7% |
| 1984 | 49.7% | -2.0% |
| 1985 | 49.9% | +0.3% |
| 1986 | 48.0% | -3.7% |
| 1987 | 44.3% | -7.8% |
| 1988 | 39.0% | -12.0% |
| 1989 | 40.3% | +3.3% |
| 1990 | 41.2% | +2.4% |
| 1991 | 42.7% | +3.6% |
| 1992 | 39.6% | -7.4% |
| 1993 | 42.5% | +7.5% |
| 1994 | 41.7% | -1.9% |
| 1995 | 41.4% | -0.8% |
| 1996 | 39.2% | -5.3% |
| 1997 | 38.0% | -2.9% |
| 1998 | 37.6% | -1.2% |
| 1999 | 38.7% | +3.0% |
| 2000 | 28.3% | -26.8% |
| 2001 | 32.5% | +14.7% |
| 2002 | 35.1% | +8.0% |
| 2003 | 40.5% | +15.5% |
| 2004 | 40.9% | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 40.0% | -2.2% |
| 2006 | 38.2% | -4.4% |
| 2007 | 38.8% | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 36.0% | -7.1% |
| 2009 | 38.3% | +6.3% |
| 2010 | 41.7% | +8.9% |
| 2011 | 44.0% | +5.5% |
| 2012 | 44.6% | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 42.3% | -5.1% |
| 2014 | 37.7% | -10.8% |
| 2015 | 32.9% | -12.9% |
| 2016 | 31.6% | -3.9% |
| 2017 | 29.3% | -7.4% |
| 2018 | 30.8% | +5.2% |
| 2019 | 30.9% | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 23.8% | -23.1% |
| 2021 | 35.1% | +48.0% |
| 2022 | 28.1% | -20.1% |
| 2023 | 22.9% | -18.4% |
| 2024 | 22.8% | -0.7% |
| 2025 | 21.8% | -4.2% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 21.8% is above the median for high income countries, which is 20.2%, 1.1× the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 21.8% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 28.3%, 77% of the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Transport services (% of commercial service imports) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | +48.0% | 23.8% | 35.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 55.0% | 53.9% | 56.1% | 3 |
| 1980s | 49.1% | 39.0% | 59.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 40.3% | 37.6% | 42.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 36.9% | 28.3% | 40.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 36.6% | 29.3% | 44.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.8% | 21.8% | 35.1% | 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)
- 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 transport services in Costa Rica?
- Transport services in Costa Rica was 21.8% 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 59.5% in 1980.
- What is the lowest transport services recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 21.8% in 2025.
- How does Costa Rica rank for transport services?
- Costa Rica ranks 134th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is transport services rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 33.6%. 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 imports). 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 imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.