Costa Rica vs Panama: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Costa Rica
1.33 million people
in 2020
Panama
1.36 million people
in 2020
Costa Rica rank
122nd
Panama rank
120th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Costa Rica
- Panama
How they compare
Panama currently reports 1.36 million people against 1.33 million people in Costa Rica, a difference of 34,830 people.
The two have swapped places 3 times across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Costa Rica ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 122nd and Panama ranks 120th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 4 and Panama in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Panama | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 575,930 people | 553,575 people | 22,356 people | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 706,384 people | 676,038 people | 30,345 people | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 816,073 people | 814,336 people | 1,736 people | Costa Rica |
| 1980s | 941,811 people | 964,478 people | 22,668 people | Panama |
| 1990s | 1.05 million people | 1.06 million people | 8,815 people | Panama |
| 2000s | 1.14 million people | 1.13 million people | 7,590 people | Costa Rica |
| 2010s | 1.25 million people | 1.27 million people | 19,780 people | Panama |
| 2020s | 1.33 million people | 1.36 million people | 34,830 people | Panama |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, Costa Rica or Panama?
- Panama, at 1.36 million people against 1.33 million people in Costa Rica as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Costa Rica and Panama?
- 34,830 people, with Panama ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Panama?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Costa Rica and Panama rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Costa Rica ranks 122nd and Panama ranks 120th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.