Statizoid

Population in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Population was 5.11 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
5.11 million people
Change on year
up 0.5%
World rank
125th
of 238 countries
All-time high
5.11 million people
in 2023
All-time low
8,000 people
in 1600
Years of data
241
1000–2023

Population in Costa Rica, 1000–2023

02.0M4.0M6.0M100015112023

Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

In 2023, population in Costa Rica stood at 5.11 million people. That is the highest value across all 241 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 8.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population in Costa Rica peaked at 5.11 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 8,000 people, in 1600.

That places Costa Rica 125th out of 238 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 291,252 people 291,252 people 291,252 people 1
1100s 317,730 people 317,730 people 317,730 people 1
1200s 346,614 people 346,614 people 346,614 people 1
1300s 378,125 people 378,125 people 378,125 people 1
1400s 412,500 people 412,500 people 412,500 people 1
1500s 450,000 people 450,000 people 450,000 people 1
1600s 8,000 people 8,000 people 8,000 people 1
1700s 22,742 people 22,742 people 22,742 people 1
1710s 24,606 people 24,606 people 24,606 people 1
1720s 26,623 people 26,623 people 26,623 people 1
1730s 28,805 people 28,805 people 28,805 people 1
1740s 31,166 people 31,166 people 31,166 people 1
1750s 33,720 people 33,720 people 33,720 people 1
1760s 36,484 people 36,484 people 36,484 people 1
1770s 39,475 people 39,475 people 39,475 people 1
1780s 42,711 people 42,711 people 42,711 people 1
1790s 46,212 people 46,212 people 46,212 people 1
1800s 55,119 people 53,000 people 57,287 people 10
1810s 60,115 people 57,788 people 62,625 people 10
1820s 69,576 people 63,498 people 76,344 people 10
1830s 84,945 people 77,905 people 92,076 people 10
1840s 97,049 people 93,371 people 100,488 people 10
1850s 110,070 people 101,627 people 119,325 people 10
1860s 130,016 people 121,363 people 139,136 people 10
1870s 161,729 people 142,062 people 184,022 people 10
1880s 217,929 people 189,610 people 248,294 people 10
1890s 282,467 people 254,968 people 310,549 people 10
1900s 349,820 people 317,246 people 383,945 people 10
1910s 421,711 people 391,337 people 451,852 people 10
1920s 496,435 people 459,026 people 536,575 people 10
1930s 602,584 people 546,929 people 663,863 people 10
1940s 791,640 people 681,697 people 916,093 people 10
1950s 1.09 million people 926,761 people 1.28 million people 10
1960s 1.56 million people 1.33 million people 1.79 million people 10
1970s 2.07 million people 1.84 million people 2.33 million people 10
1980s 2.71 million people 2.39 million people 3.04 million people 10
1990s 3.49 million people 3.12 million people 3.86 million people 10
2000s 4.23 million people 3.94 million people 4.50 million people 10
2010s 4.79 million people 4.56 million people 5.00 million people 10
2020s 5.07 million people 5.03 million people 5.11 million people 4

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 123 New Zealand 5.17 million people compare
  2. 124 Central African Republic 5.15 million people compare
  3. 126 Oman 5.05 million people compare
  4. 127 Mauritania 5.02 million people compare
  5. 128 Kuwait 4.84 million people compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More population data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is population in Costa Rica?
Population in Costa Rica was 5.11 million people in 2023, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest population recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 5.11 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest population recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 8,000 people in 1600.
How does Costa Rica rank for population?
Costa Rica ranks 125th out of 238 countries with data for 2023.
Is population rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 8.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 241 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.