Demographics & population — Costa Rica
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Costa Rica: 5,265,575
Immigration rules and fees change frequently — confirm current requirements on official government or embassy websites.
Population overview
- Population
5,265,575
- Population Growth Rate
0.74%
- Population Distribution
roughly half of the nation's population resides in urban areas; the capital of San Jose is the largest city and home to approximately one-fifth of the population
- Urban Population
- urban population: 82.6%
- of total population rate of urbanization: 1.5% annual rate of change
- Population in Major Urban Areas
1.462 million SAN JOSE (capital)
- Population: Male/Female
- male: 2,635,481
- female: 2,630,094
Age & family
- Age Structure
- years: 18.8% (male 506,041/female 482,481) 15-64
- years: 70.2% (male 1,862,872/female 1,832,024) 65
- years and over: 11.1% (male 266,568/female 315,589)
- Median Age
- total: 35.5
- years male: 34.9
- years female: 36.1 years
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
11
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
5.3
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
1.43
- Gross reproduction rate
1
- Child Marriage
- women married by age 15: 2%
- women married by age 18: 17.1%
- Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 12-49
70.9%
- Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - female 12-49
70.9%
- Currently married women (ages 15-49)
48.4%
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
- at birth: 1.05
- male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.05
- male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02
- male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84
- male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
1.9
- Demographic profile
Costa Rica's political stability, high standard of living, and well-developed social benefits system set it apart from its Central American neighbors.
Through the government's sustained social spending - almost 20% of GDP annually - Costa Rica has made tremendous progress toward achieving its goal of providing universal access to education, healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and electricity.
Since the 1970s, expansion of these services has led to a rapid decline in infant mortality, an increase in life expectancy at birth, and a sharp decrease in the birth rate.
The average number of children born per women has fallen from about 7 in the 1960s to 3.5 in the early 1980s to below replacement level today.
Costa Rica's poverty rate is lower than in most Latin American countries, but it has stalled at around 20% for almost two decades.
Costa Rica is a popular regional immigration destination because of its job opportunities and social programs.
Almost 9% of the population is foreign-born, with Nicaraguans comprising nearly three-quarters of the foreign population.
Many Nicaraguans who perform unskilled seasonal labor enter Costa Rica illegally or overstay their visas, which continues to be a source of tension.
Less than 3% of Costa Rica's population lives abroad.
The overwhelming majority of expatriates have settled in the United States after completing a university degree or in order to work in a highly skilled field.
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
White or Mestizo 83.6%, Mulatto 6.7%, Indigenous 2.4%, Black or African descent 1.1%, other 1.1%, none 2.9%, unspecified 2.2%
- Language Note
Spanish (official), English
- Nationality Noun
- Costa Rican(s) adjective: Costa Rican
Education
- Literacy - total population
98%
- Literacy - male
98%
- Literacy - female
98.1%
- Literacy Definition
age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
6.7%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
- total: 17
- years male: 16
- years female: 17 years
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- total population: 80.3
- years male: 77.7
- years female: 82.9 years
- Infant Mortality Rate
- total: 6.7 deaths/1,000
- live births male: 7 deaths/1,000
- live births female: 6.3 deaths/1,000 live births
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- total: 6.7 deaths/1,000
- live births male: 7 deaths/1,000
- live births female: 6.3 deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
22
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
3.3
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
1.1
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
7.9%
- Major Infectious Diseases - degree of risk
- bacterial diarrhea vectorborne diseases: dengue fever
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
25.7%
- Tobacco Use
- total: 8.8%
- male: 12.9%
- female: 4.6%
- Alcohol consumption per capita
- total: 3.07
- liters of pure alcohol beer: 2.17
- liters of pure alcohol wine: 0.15
- liters of pure alcohol spirits: 0.36
- liters of pure alcohol other alcohols: 0.39 liters of pure alcohol
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- urban: 100%
- of population rural: 100%
- of population total: 100%
- urban: 0%
- of population rural: 0%
- of population total: 0% of population
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- urban: 99%
- of population rural: 97.1%
- of population total: 98.7%
- urban: 1%
- of population rural: 2.9%
- of population total: 1.3% of population
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
2.9%