Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source was 99.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Costa Rica, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Costa Rica stood at 99.8%. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is up 0.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Costa Rica peaked at 99.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 94.7%, in 2000.
Costa Rica ranks 62nd of 231 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 94.7% | — |
| 2001 | 95.1% | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 95.5% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 95.8% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 96.2% | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 96.5% | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 96.9% | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 97.2% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 97.5% | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 97.8% | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 98.0% | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 98.2% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 98.5% | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 98.7% | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 98.9% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 99.1% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 99.3% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 99.5% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 99.7% | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 99.8% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 99.8% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 99.8% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 99.8% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 99.8% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 99.8% | +0.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 99.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 100.0%, 100% of the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 99.8% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 98.0%, 1.0× the median. (41 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 96.3% | 94.7% | 97.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 99.0% | 98.0% | 99.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 99.8% | 99.8% | 99.8% | 5 |
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 share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Costa Rica?
- Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source in Costa Rica was 99.8% in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population using at least a basic drinking water source recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 99.8% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of population using at least a basic drinking water source recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 94.7% in 2000.
- How does Costa Rica rank for share of population using at least a basic drinking water source?
- Costa Rica ranks 62nd out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of population using at least a basic drinking water source rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population using at least a basic drinking water source. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of people who use an improved drinking water source, which is either located on their premises, or at a collection point, which takes no more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip.