Travel services (% of commercial service imports) in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Travel services (% of commercial service imports) was 24.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Travel 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
In 2025, travel services in Costa Rica stood at 24.7%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.2% on the previous year and up 9.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in Costa Rica peaked at 39.4% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 7.1%, in 2020.
That places Costa Rica 66th out of 198 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.
Travel services (% of commercial service imports) in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 26.1% | — |
| 1978 | 27.3% | +4.4% |
| 1979 | 24.3% | -10.7% |
| 1980 | 21.5% | -11.5% |
| 1981 | 22.8% | +5.9% |
| 1982 | 18.6% | -18.3% |
| 1983 | 21.0% | +12.8% |
| 1984 | 21.4% | +2.0% |
| 1985 | 21.1% | -1.7% |
| 1986 | 22.4% | +6.4% |
| 1987 | 20.2% | -9.9% |
| 1988 | 18.3% | -9.3% |
| 1989 | 25.0% | +36.2% |
| 1990 | 28.8% | +15.4% |
| 1991 | 29.5% | +2.3% |
| 1992 | 32.5% | +10.2% |
| 1993 | 33.7% | +3.7% |
| 1994 | 35.9% | +6.5% |
| 1995 | 36.0% | +0.4% |
| 1996 | 32.9% | -8.6% |
| 1997 | 35.4% | +7.6% |
| 1998 | 36.9% | +4.3% |
| 1999 | 39.4% | +6.5% |
| 2000 | 36.0% | -8.4% |
| 2001 | 30.8% | -14.6% |
| 2002 | 29.2% | -5.0% |
| 2003 | 27.5% | -6.1% |
| 2004 | 28.3% | +3.2% |
| 2005 | 30.9% | +9.1% |
| 2006 | 29.0% | -6.3% |
| 2007 | 32.6% | +12.4% |
| 2008 | 31.7% | -2.6% |
| 2009 | 24.9% | -21.4% |
| 2010 | 22.4% | -10.3% |
| 2011 | 20.8% | -6.8% |
| 2012 | 19.2% | -7.9% |
| 2013 | 17.9% | -6.6% |
| 2014 | 17.7% | -1.5% |
| 2015 | 22.5% | +27.4% |
| 2016 | 23.5% | +4.6% |
| 2017 | 27.3% | +16.0% |
| 2018 | 20.0% | -26.8% |
| 2019 | 22.7% | +13.6% |
| 2020 | 7.1% | -68.6% |
| 2021 | 13.3% | +86.2% |
| 2022 | 20.8% | +56.3% |
| 2023 | 24.4% | +17.6% |
| 2024 | 24.8% | +1.4% |
| 2025 | 24.7% | -0.2% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 24.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 21.8%, 1.1× the median. (72 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 24.7% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 18.1%, 1.4× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel 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 | +86.2% | 7.1% | 13.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 25.9% | 24.3% | 27.3% | 3 |
| 1980s | 21.2% | 18.3% | 25.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 34.1% | 28.8% | 39.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 30.1% | 24.9% | 36.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 21.4% | 17.7% | 27.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.2% | 7.1% | 24.8% | 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)
- 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 travel services in Costa Rica?
- Travel services in Costa Rica was 24.7% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 39.4% in 1999.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.1% in 2020.
- How does Costa Rica rank for travel services?
- Costa Rica ranks 66th out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.9%. 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 Travel 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
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.