Drinking water service usage in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Drinking water service usage was 80.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Drinking water service usage in Costa Rica, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, drinking water service usage in Costa Rica stood at 80.5%.
The figure is up 0.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water service usage in Costa Rica peaked at 80.5% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 76.6%, in 2000.
Costa Rica ranks 88th of 163 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Drinking water service usage in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 76.6% | — |
| 2001 | 76.9% | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 77.2% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 77.5% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 77.8% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 78.0% | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 78.3% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 78.5% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 78.8% | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 79.0% | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 79.2% | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 79.4% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 79.6% | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 79.7% | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 79.9% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 80.0% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 80.2% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 80.3% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 80.4% | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 80.5% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 80.5% | -0.0% |
| 2021 | 80.5% | -0.0% |
| 2022 | 80.5% | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 80.5% | -0.0% |
| 2024 | 80.5% | -0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 80.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 98.7%, 82% of the median. (68 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 80.5% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 69.4%, 1.2× the median. (19 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 77.8% | 76.6% | 79.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 79.9% | 79.2% | 80.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 80.5% | 80.5% | 80.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More environment data for Costa Rica
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 2.9 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 2.71 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.257 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.61 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.09 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -0.3048 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water service usage in Costa Rica?
- Drinking water service usage in Costa Rica was 80.5% in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest drinking water service usage recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 80.5% in 2019.
- What is the lowest drinking water service usage recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 76.6% in 2000.
- How does Costa Rica rank for drinking water service usage?
- Costa Rica ranks 88th out of 163 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water service usage rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Drinking water service usage. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of people using an improved drinking water source that is located on premises, available when needed and free from fecal and priority chemical contamination.