Rural population in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Rural population was 1.04 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Costa Rica, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 1.04 million for rural population in 2025.
That represents a change of down 1.6% on the previous year and down 13.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Costa Rica peaked at 1.64 million in 1995 and was at its lowest, 874,753, in 1960.
That places Costa Rica 126th out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.00 million | 874,753 | 1.11 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.22 million | 1.13 million | 1.34 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.49 million | 1.37 million | 1.59 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.63 million | 1.61 million | 1.64 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.50 million | 1.34 million | 1.61 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.21 million | 1.15 million | 1.30 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.09 million | 1.04 million | 1.13 million | 6 |
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)
- 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)
- Fertilizer consumption 1,025 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Costa Rica?
- Rural population in Costa Rica was 1.04 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 1.64 million in 1995.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 874,753 in 1960.
- How does Costa Rica rank for rural population?
- Costa Rica ranks 126th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.