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.
Agriculture-driven deforestation in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 14,793 hectares | — |
| 2002 | 12,280 hectares | -17.0% |
| 2003 | 7,824 hectares | -36.3% |
| 2004 | 9,055 hectares | +15.7% |
| 2005 | 15,688 hectares | +73.2% |
| 2006 | 9,356 hectares | -40.4% |
| 2007 | 10,727 hectares | +14.6% |
| 2008 | 20,607 hectares | +92.1% |
| 2009 | 20,792 hectares | +0.9% |
| 2010 | 12,429 hectares | -40.2% |
| 2011 | 9,735 hectares | -21.7% |
| 2012 | 9,682 hectares | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 7,039 hectares | -27.3% |
| 2014 | 10,032 hectares | +42.5% |
| 2015 | 3,139 hectares | -68.7% |
| 2016 | 12,500 hectares | +298.2% |
| 2017 | 15,906 hectares | +27.2% |
| 2018 | 11,177 hectares | -29.7% |
| 2019 | 10,354 hectares | -7.4% |
| 2020 | 7,388 hectares | -28.7% |
| 2021 | 7,007 hectares | -5.2% |
| 2022 | 7,751 hectares | +10.6% |
| 2023 | 8,089 hectares | +4.4% |
| 2024 | 7,308 hectares | -9.7% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 7,308 hectares is above the median for high income countries, which is 66.13 hectares, 110.5× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 7,308 hectares is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 1,620 hectares, 4.5× the median. (40 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Agriculture-driven deforestation in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | +298.2% | 3,139 hectares | 12,500 hectares |
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
- 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 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.