Municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals was 32.2% in 2022. ▲ Rising
Municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica, 2012–2022
Source: AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, FAO, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of total freshwater withdrawal.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 32.2% for municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals in 2022. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of up 29.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica peaked at 32.2% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 8.6%, in 2017.
That places Costa Rica 61st out of 180 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of total freshwater withdrawal | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 24.8% | — |
| 2013 | 24.2% | -2.5% |
| 2014 | 23.0% | -4.7% |
| 2015 | 20.4% | -11.5% |
| 2016 | 19.0% | -6.6% |
| 2017 | 8.6% | -54.8% |
| 2018 | 23.9% | +177.4% |
| 2019 | 26.7% | +11.9% |
| 2020 | 26.4% | -1.2% |
| 2021 | 32.2% | +21.8% |
| 2022 | 32.2% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 21.3% | 8.6% | 26.7% | 8 |
| 2020s | 30.2% | 26.4% | 32.2% | 3 |
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)
- Sawnwood, non-coniferous — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Sawnwood, non-coniferous — Production, per unit of GDP 0 m3 per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Sawnwood, non-coniferous — Production, per capita 0.0525 m3 per person (2024)
- Sawnwood, non-coniferous — Import quantity, annual growth rate 34.12 % change on previous year (2024)
- Sawnwood, non-coniferous — Import quantity, per unit of GDP 0 m3 per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica?
- Municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica was 32.2% in 2022, according to AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, FAO, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 32.2% in 2021.
- What is the lowest municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.6% in 2017.
- How does Costa Rica rank for municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals?
- Costa Rica ranks 61st out of 180 countries with data for 2022.
- Is municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 29.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, FAO, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Municipal water as a share of total water withdrawals. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Municipal (domestic) water withdrawals as a percentage of total water withdrawals (which is the sum of water used for agriculture, industry, and municipal purposes).