Social expenditure aggregates in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Social expenditure aggregates was 12.64 Percentage of GDP in 2022. ▲ Rising

Latest (2022)
12.64 Percentage of GDP
Change on year
down 0.4%
World rank
31st
of 33 countries
All-time high
14.37 Percentage of GDP
in 2020
All-time low
11.7 Percentage of GDP
in 2012
Years of data
12
2011–2022

Social expenditure aggregates in Costa Rica, 2011–2022

0510152011201620222011: 11.9 Percentage of GDP2012: 11.7 Percentage of GDP2013: 12.1 Percentage of GDP2014: 11.9 Percentage of GDP2015: 12.1 Percentage of GDP2016: 11.9 Percentage of GDP2017: 11.9 Percentage of GDP2018: 12.4 Percentage of GDP2019: 12.3 Percentage of GDP2020: 14.4 Percentage of GDP2021: 12.7 Percentage of GDP2022: 12.6 Percentage of GDP

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of GDP.

Analysis

The most recent figure for social expenditure aggregates in Costa Rica is 12.64 Percentage of GDP, measured in 2022.

The figure is down 0.4% on the previous year and up 8.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, social expenditure aggregates in Costa Rica peaked at 14.37 Percentage of GDP in 2020 and was at its lowest, 11.7 Percentage of GDP, in 2012.

That places Costa Rica 31st out of 33 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 12 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 12.03 Percentage of GDP 11.7 Percentage of GDP 12.43 Percentage of GDP 9
2020s 13.24 Percentage of GDP 12.64 Percentage of GDP 14.37 Percentage of GDP 3

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 28 Ireland 14.36 Percentage of GDP compare
  2. 29 Colombia 14.06 Percentage of GDP compare
  3. 30 Chile 12.88 Percentage of GDP compare
  4. 32 Mexico 10.03 Percentage of GDP compare
  5. 33 Peru 7.55 Percentage of GDP compare

See the full ranking of 43 places →

More social development data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is social expenditure aggregates in Costa Rica?
Social expenditure aggregates in Costa Rica was 12.64 Percentage of GDP in 2022, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest social expenditure aggregates recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 14.37 Percentage of GDP in 2020.
What is the lowest social expenditure aggregates recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 11.7 Percentage of GDP in 2012.
How does Costa Rica rank for social expenditure aggregates?
Costa Rica ranks 31st out of 33 countries with data for 2022.
Is social expenditure aggregates rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 8.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Social expenditure aggregates. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Social expenditure aggregates in Costa Rica. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 21 August 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/social-expenditure-aggregates/costa-rica/

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About this data

Indicator
Social expenditure aggregates
Unit
Percentage of GDP
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
43 places, 1,559 data points, 1980–2024
Last refreshed

The OECD Social Expenditure Database (SOCX) has been developed in order to serve a growing need for indicators of social policy. It includes reliable and internationally comparable statistics on public and mandatory and voluntary private social expenditure at programme level. SOCX provides a unique tool for monitoring trends in aggregate social expenditure and analysing changes in its composition. It covers 38 OECD countries and some accession countries for the period 1980-2021/23 and estimates for aggregates for 2022-24. A Social Expenditure Update can be found under www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/social-expenditure-database-socx.htm. The main social policy areas are as follows: Old age, Survivors, Incapacity-related benefits, Health, Family, Active labor market programmes, Unemployment, Housing, and Other social policy areas. This version also includes estimates of net total social spending for 2021 for 38 OECD countries. SOCX aggregated data as well as sources and methodology are described in The OECD SOCX Manual – 2019 edition- A guide to the OECD Social Expenditure Database.