Arable land in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Arable land was 167,133 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Arable land in Costa Rica, 1961–2023
Source: FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 167,133 hectares for arable land in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 28.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land in Costa Rica peaked at 285,000 hectares in 1961 and was at its lowest, 167,133 hectares, in 2020.
Costa Rica ranks 142nd of 206 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 285,000 hectares | 285,000 hectares | 285,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 283,600 hectares | 283,000 hectares | 285,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 281,000 hectares | 260,000 hectares | 285,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 230,000 hectares | 210,000 hectares | 260,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 208,000 hectares | 200,000 hectares | 220,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 215,083 hectares | 177,944 hectares | 232,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 167,133 hectares | 167,133 hectares | 167,133 hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More agriculture & rural data for Costa Rica
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.1% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2024)
- Rural population 20.3% (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.6% (2025)
- Rural population 1.04 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 3.4% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 3.46 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 18,980 hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 3,807 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 72,256 metric tons (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land in Costa Rica?
- Arable land in Costa Rica was 167,133 hectares in 2023, according to FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest arable land recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 285,000 hectares in 1961.
- What is the lowest arable land recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 167,133 hectares in 2020.
- How does Costa Rica rank for arable land?
- Costa Rica ranks 142nd out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Arable land (hectares). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Arable land (in hectares) includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.