Municipal water withdrawal in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Municipal water withdrawal was 1.11 billion cubic meters in 2023. ▲ Rising
Municipal water withdrawal in Costa Rica, 1997–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – AQUASTAT (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in cubic meters.
Analysis
The most recent figure for municipal water withdrawal in Costa Rica is 1.11 billion cubic meters, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 27 years on record.
The figure is up 86.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, municipal water withdrawal in Costa Rica peaked at 1.11 billion cubic meters in 2021 and was at its lowest, 210.00 million cubic meters, in 2017.
That places Costa Rica 49th out of 183 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 27 years of available data.
Municipal water withdrawal in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | cubic meters | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 757.00 million cubic meters | — |
| 1998 | 745.13 million cubic meters | -1.6% |
| 1999 | 733.27 million cubic meters | -1.6% |
| 2000 | 721.40 million cubic meters | -1.6% |
| 2001 | 709.54 million cubic meters | -1.6% |
| 2002 | 697.67 million cubic meters | -1.7% |
| 2003 | 685.80 million cubic meters | -1.7% |
| 2004 | 673.94 million cubic meters | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 662.07 million cubic meters | -1.8% |
| 2006 | 650.21 million cubic meters | -1.8% |
| 2007 | 638.34 million cubic meters | -1.8% |
| 2008 | 626.48 million cubic meters | -1.9% |
| 2009 | 614.61 million cubic meters | -1.9% |
| 2010 | 602.74 million cubic meters | -1.9% |
| 2011 | 590.88 million cubic meters | -2.0% |
| 2012 | 579.01 million cubic meters | -2.0% |
| 2013 | 595.42 million cubic meters | +2.8% |
| 2014 | 631.53 million cubic meters | +6.1% |
| 2015 | 650.91 million cubic meters | +3.1% |
| 2016 | 559.90 million cubic meters | -14.0% |
| 2017 | 210.00 million cubic meters | -62.5% |
| 2018 | 729.02 million cubic meters | +247.2% |
| 2019 | 838.54 million cubic meters | +15.0% |
| 2020 | 828.22 million cubic meters | -1.2% |
| 2021 | 1.11 billion cubic meters | +33.9% |
| 2022 | 1.11 billion cubic meters | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1.11 billion cubic meters | +0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 1.11 billion cubic meters is above the median for high income countries, which is 699.00 million cubic meters, 1.6× the median. (61 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 1.11 billion cubic meters is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 350.93 million cubic meters, 3.2× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Municipal water withdrawal 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | +247.2% | 210.00 million cubic meters | 729.02 million cubic meters |
| 2017 | -62.5% | 559.90 million cubic meters | 210.00 million cubic meters |
| 2021 | +33.9% | 828.22 million cubic meters | 1.11 billion cubic meters |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 745.13 million cubic meters | 733.27 million cubic meters | 757.00 million cubic meters | 3 |
| 2000s | 668.01 million cubic meters | 614.61 million cubic meters | 721.40 million cubic meters | 10 |
| 2010s | 598.80 million cubic meters | 210.00 million cubic meters | 838.54 million cubic meters | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.04 billion cubic meters | 828.22 million cubic meters | 1.11 billion cubic meters | 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 municipal water withdrawal in Costa Rica?
- Municipal water withdrawal in Costa Rica was 1.11 billion cubic meters in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – AQUASTAT (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest municipal water withdrawal recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 1.11 billion cubic meters in 2021.
- What is the lowest municipal water withdrawal recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 210.00 million cubic meters in 2017.
- How does Costa Rica rank for municipal water withdrawal?
- Costa Rica ranks 49th out of 183 countries with data for 2023.
- Is municipal water withdrawal rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 86.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – AQUASTAT (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Municipal water withdrawal. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 27 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Water withdrawn each year for direct use by the population, usually measured as the total supplied by the public distribution network.