Costa Rica Population
Costa Rica had an estimated population of 5,152,950 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 126th most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.06% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +0.45% a year.
Costa Rica at a glance
How Costa Rica's population is changing
Costa Rica's population is growing: +0.45% a year, which works out to about +23,092 people per year, or +63 a day. Births (10.0 per 1,000) and deaths (5.6 per 1,000) alone would give +0.44% a year; net migration adds about 1,000 people a year (+0.02%). Roughly one in every 1,594 people on Earth lives in Costa Rica.
Population of Costa Rica since 1960
In 1960, Costa Rica had 1,327,496 people. By 2025 that was 5,152,950 — 3.9× larger. The fastest growth came between 1960 and 1970, when the population rose by 39%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 1,327,496 | — |
| 1970 | 1,838,949 | +38.5% |
| 1980 | 2,390,633 | +30.0% |
| 1990 | 3,121,706 | +30.6% |
| 2000 | 3,937,739 | +26.1% |
| 2010 | 4,555,962 | +15.7% |
| 2020 | 5,034,320 | +10.5% |
| 2025 | 5,152,950 | +2.4% |
Costa Rica from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Costa Rica at about 53,000 people in 1800; the UN estimates 5,152,949 in 2025 (97× 1800) and projects 3,776,476 for 2100 in its medium scenario. The population is projected to peak around 2044 at 5,381,723 and decline afterwards.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 53,000 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 101,627 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 317,246 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 926,761 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 3,937,737 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 5,152,949 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 5,354,149 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 4,756,840 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 3,776,476 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Costa Rica
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 5,152,950. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San José | 2,171,213 | UN urban centre | 42.14% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Limón | 52,337 | UN urban centre | 1.02% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Alajuela | 47,494 | GeoNames settlement | 0.92% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 4 | Liberia | 45,380 | GeoNames settlement | 0.88% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 5 | Paraíso | 39,702 | GeoNames settlement | 0.77% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 6 | Puntarenas | 35,650 | GeoNames settlement | 0.69% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 7 | San Isidro | 34,877 | GeoNames settlement | 0.68% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 8 | Curridabat | 34,586 | GeoNames settlement | 0.67% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 9 | San Vicente | 34,447 | GeoNames settlement | 0.67% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 10 | San José | 31,430 | GeoNames settlement | 0.61% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
How Costa Rica compares
Costa Rica has almost the same population as Mauritania (5,315,065).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Costa Rica | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #124 |  New Zealand | 5,324,700 | +3% | compare → |
| #125 |  Mauritania | 5,315,065 | +3% | compare → |
| #127 |  Kuwait | 4,865,298 | −6% | compare → |
| #128 |  Panama | 4,571,189 | −11% | compare → |
Compare Costa Rica with any country →
Same region (Latin America & Caribbean): Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela.
Explore around Costa Rica
Land neighbours (2)
Costa Rica's 2 neighbours together hold 11,578,691 people — 2.2× Costa Rica's population. The most populous is Nicaragua (7,007,502).
In its region
Costa Rica is the 18th most populous of the 42 economies in Latin America & Caribbean, holding 0.8% of the region's 666,592,570 people.
Rankings
Largest countries, fastest-growing, oldest populations, densest — all rankings.
Cities
San José, Limón, Alajuela, Liberia, Paraíso, Puntarenas, San Isidro, Curridabat — all Costa Rica's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Costa Rica when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.