Agriculture-driven deforestation in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Agriculture-driven deforestation was 7,308 hectares in 2024. ▼ Falling
Agriculture-driven deforestation in Costa Rica, 2001–2024
Source: Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 7,308 hectares for agriculture-driven deforestation in 2024.
That represents a change of down 9.7% on the previous year and down 27.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agriculture-driven deforestation in Costa Rica peaked at 20,792 hectares in 2009 and was at its lowest, 3,139 hectares, in 2015.
Costa Rica ranks 49th of 187 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 13,458 hectares | 7,824 hectares | 20,792 hectares | 9 |
| 2010s | 10,199 hectares | 3,139 hectares | 15,906 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 7,509 hectares | 7,007 hectares | 8,089 hectares | 5 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
- 46 Chad 10,298 hectares compare
- 47 Kenya 9,634 hectares compare
- 48 Dominican Republic 9,293 hectares compare
- 50 Congo 6,340 hectares compare
- 51 Papua New Guinea 5,420 hectares compare
- 52 Guinea-Bissau 4,696 hectares compare
More environment data for Costa Rica
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 17.08 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 3.33 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 4.38 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0273 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.0074 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0131 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 6.38 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0006 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0288 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 1.92 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agriculture-driven deforestation in Costa Rica?
- Agriculture-driven deforestation in Costa Rica was 7,308 hectares in 2024, according to Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest agriculture-driven deforestation recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 20,792 hectares in 2009.
- What is the lowest agriculture-driven deforestation recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 3,139 hectares in 2015.
- How does Costa Rica rank for agriculture-driven deforestation?
- Costa Rica ranks 49th out of 187 countries with data for 2024.
- Is agriculture-driven deforestation rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 27.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Global Forest Watch (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Agriculture-driven deforestation. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Long-term, permanent tree cover loss for small- to large-scale agriculture.