Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica

Costa Rica: Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty was 20.1% in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
20.1%
Change on year
down 3.4%
World rank
89th
of 184 countries
All-time high
21.4%
in 2020
All-time low
8.4%
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica, 1950–2023

05101520195019862023

Source: Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.

Analysis

In 2023, share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica stood at 20.1%.

The figure is down 3.4% on the previous year and up 11.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica peaked at 21.4% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 8.4%, in 1950.

That places Costa Rica 89th out of 184 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica, year by year

Annual values for Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica, 1950 to 2023.
Year % of GDP Change
1950 8.4%
1951 9.0% +7.1%
1952 9.7% +7.0%
1953 8.4% -12.6%
1954 10.1% +19.1%
1955 10.6% +5.2%
1956 12.2% +14.9%
1957 12.0% -1.4%
1958 11.3% -6.0%
1959 12.3% +9.1%
1960 11.9% -3.4%
1961 13.8% +15.7%
1962 13.8% +0.5%
1963 14.4% +4.2%
1964 15.0% +4.3%
1965 15.0% -0.0%
1966 15.7% +4.6%
1967 15.5% -1.2%
1968 15.0% -3.1%
1969 15.3% +1.8%
1970 15.8% +3.5%
1971 17.2% +8.6%
1972 17.5% +1.8%
1973 17.5% -0.2%
1974 18.7% +7.1%
1975 19.3% +3.3%
1976 19.2% -0.5%
1977 18.8% -2.4%
1978 18.4% -1.8%
1979 18.9% +2.6%
1980 19.3% +2.1%
1981 18.7% -3.0%
1982 19.6% +4.7%
1983 18.6% -4.9%
1984 18.0% -3.4%
1985 17.8% -0.9%
1986 16.8% -5.8%
1987 17.3% +3.2%
1988 17.4% +0.5%
1989 17.1% -2.2%
1990 16.0% -6.5%
1991 15.5% -2.9%
1992 14.8% -4.5%
1993 14.6% -1.5%
1994 14.2% -2.8%
1995 13.4% -5.5%
1996 13.4% -0.1%
1997 14.0% +4.4%
1998 13.1% -5.7%
1999 13.7% +3.8%
2000 13.8% +1.1%
2001 14.1% +2.4%
2002 14.4% +1.9%
2003 14.7% +2.1%
2004 14.6% -0.8%
2005 14.8% +1.7%
2006 15.1% +1.8%
2007 14.8% -2.0%
2008 15.2% +2.5%
2009 15.5% +2.0%
2010 16.4% +5.7%
2011 16.1% -1.3%
2012 16.2% +0.2%
2013 18.1% +11.7%
2014 19.0% +5.1%
2015 19.5% +2.5%
2016 21.3% +9.1%
2017 21.0% -1.3%
2018 21.0% +0.2%
2019 21.4% +1.7%
2020 21.4% +0.3%
2021 20.9% -2.5%
2022 20.8% -0.5%
2023 20.1% -3.4%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 10.4% 8.4% 12.3% 10
1960s 14.6% 11.9% 15.7% 10
1970s 18.1% 15.8% 19.3% 10
1980s 18.1% 16.8% 19.6% 10
1990s 14.2% 13.1% 16.0% 10
2000s 14.7% 13.8% 15.5% 10
2010s 19.0% 16.1% 21.4% 10
2020s 20.8% 20.1% 21.4% 4

Countries ranked near Costa Rica

  1. 86 Palestine, State of 20.2% compare
  2. 87 Nicaragua 20.2% compare
  3. 88 Armenia 20.2% compare
  4. 90 Burkina Faso 19.9% compare
  5. 91 Spain 19.7% compare
  6. 92 Germany 19.7% compare

See the full ranking of 184 places →

More poverty & inequality data for Costa Rica

All data for Costa Rica →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica?
Share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica was 20.1% in 2023, according to Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty recorded in Costa Rica?
The highest recorded value was 21.4% in 2020.
What is the lowest share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty recorded in Costa Rica?
The lowest recorded value was 8.4% in 1950.
How does Costa Rica rank for share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty?
Costa Rica ranks 89th out of 184 countries with data for 2023.
Is share of government consumption in gdp vs. share of population living in extreme poverty rising or falling in Costa Rica?
Over the last ten years it is up 11.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
The figures come from Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty in Costa Rica. Statizoid, drawing on Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 September 2026, from https://poverty.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-government-consumption-in-gdp-vs-share-in-extreme-poverty/costa-rica/

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About this data

Indicator
Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty
Unit
% of GDP
Source
Feenstra et al. - Penn World Table (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
184 places, 10,907 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Government consumption divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage.