Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Poverty gap index at $3 a day was 0.2% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Costa Rica, 1981–2025
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 0.2% for poverty gap index at $3 a day in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 39 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 44.8% on the previous year and down 74.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, poverty gap index at $3 a day in Costa Rica peaked at 15.3% in 1981 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2025.
Costa Rica ranks 79th of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 15.3% | — |
| 1986 | 8.3% | -45.9% |
| 1989 | 7.0% | -15.0% |
| 1990 | 6.7% | -4.9% |
| 1991 | 7.6% | +14.0% |
| 1992 | 6.3% | -17.6% |
| 1993 | 5.6% | -10.4% |
| 1994 | 4.5% | -20.3% |
| 1995 | 4.8% | +6.1% |
| 1996 | 5.4% | +12.9% |
| 1997 | 4.1% | -23.8% |
| 1998 | 3.2% | -21.2% |
| 1999 | 4.1% | +27.4% |
| 2000 | 4.3% | +4.1% |
| 2001 | 3.1% | -27.0% |
| 2002 | 2.9% | -7.7% |
| 2003 | 2.8% | -2.6% |
| 2004 | 2.6% | -7.3% |
| 2005 | 1.8% | -30.7% |
| 2006 | 1.9% | +5.0% |
| 2007 | 1.1% | -43.3% |
| 2008 | 1.4% | +25.9% |
| 2009 | 1.5% | +10.7% |
| 2010 | 0.9% | -39.3% |
| 2011 | 1.0% | +7.6% |
| 2012 | 0.9% | -5.6% |
| 2013 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.9% | -2.8% |
| 2015 | 0.9% | +2.3% |
| 2016 | 0.8% | -13.8% |
| 2017 | 0.6% | -24.5% |
| 2018 | 0.9% | +43.4% |
| 2019 | 0.6% | -28.6% |
| 2020 | 1.3% | +115.6% |
| 2021 | 0.7% | -48.4% |
| 2022 | 0.5% | -21.1% |
| 2023 | 0.5% | -10.5% |
| 2024 | 0.4% | -12.4% |
| 2025 | 0.2% | -44.8% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 0.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.2%, 1.2× the median. (42 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 0.2% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.9%, 26% of the median. (18 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 10.2% | 7.0% | 15.3% | 3 |
| 1990s | 5.2% | 3.2% | 7.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.3% | 1.1% | 4.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8% | 0.6% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6% | 0.2% | 1.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More poverty & inequality data for Costa Rica
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 10 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.33 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 3,807 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -14.41 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 24.93 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 24.9% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is poverty gap index at $3 a day in Costa Rica?
- Poverty gap index at $3 a day in Costa Rica was 0.2% in 2025, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest poverty gap index at $3 a day recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 15.3% in 1981.
- What is the lowest poverty gap index at $3 a day recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2025.
- How does Costa Rica rank for poverty gap index at $3 a day?
- Costa Rica ranks 79th out of 120 countries with data for 2025.
- Is poverty gap index at $3 a day rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 74.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Poverty gap index at $3 a day. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 39 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The poverty gap index is a poverty measure that reflects both the prevalence and the depth of poverty. It is calculated as the share of population in poverty multiplied by the average shortfall from the poverty line (expressed as a % of the poverty line).