Exported deforestation in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Exported deforestation was 1,266 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Exported deforestation in Costa Rica, 2005–2023
Source: Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
In 2023, exported deforestation in Costa Rica stood at 1,266 hectares. That is the lowest value across all 19 years on record.
That represents a change of down 29.2% on the previous year and down 72.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, exported deforestation in Costa Rica peaked at 7,441 hectares in 2009 and was at its lowest, 1,266 hectares, in 2023.
Costa Rica ranks 50th of 178 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 19 years of available data.
Exported deforestation in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 5,721 hectares | — |
| 2006 | 5,659 hectares | -1.1% |
| 2007 | 5,846 hectares | +3.3% |
| 2008 | 7,142 hectares | +22.2% |
| 2009 | 7,441 hectares | +4.2% |
| 2010 | 7,082 hectares | -4.8% |
| 2011 | 7,089 hectares | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 6,415 hectares | -9.5% |
| 2013 | 4,620 hectares | -28.0% |
| 2014 | 2,953 hectares | -36.1% |
| 2015 | 1,826 hectares | -38.1% |
| 2016 | 1,616 hectares | -11.5% |
| 2017 | 2,155 hectares | +33.4% |
| 2018 | 2,677 hectares | +24.2% |
| 2019 | 3,093 hectares | +15.6% |
| 2020 | 3,306 hectares | +6.9% |
| 2021 | 3,222 hectares | -2.5% |
| 2022 | 1,786 hectares | -44.6% |
| 2023 | 1,266 hectares | -29.2% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 1,266 hectares is above the median for high income countries, which is 40.55 hectares, 31.2× the median. (59 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 1,266 hectares is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 451.74 hectares, 2.8× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6,362 hectares | 5,659 hectares | 7,441 hectares | 5 |
| 2010s | 3,952 hectares | 1,616 hectares | 7,089 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 2,395 hectares | 1,266 hectares | 3,306 hectares | 4 |
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 exported deforestation in Costa Rica?
- Exported deforestation in Costa Rica was 1,266 hectares in 2023, according to Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest exported deforestation recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 7,441 hectares in 2009.
- What is the lowest exported deforestation recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 1,266 hectares in 2023.
- How does Costa Rica rank for exported deforestation?
- Costa Rica ranks 50th out of 178 countries with data for 2023.
- Is exported deforestation rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 72.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Singh et al. (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Exported deforestation. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Exported deforestation is the amount of annual deforestation that is driven by the production of food and forestry products that are exported for consumption in other countries. This is measured in hectares.