Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality was 24.9% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Costa Rica, 1990–2023
Source: UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 24.9% for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in 2023.
The figure is down 1.0% on the previous year and up 8.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Costa Rica peaked at 25.2% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 17.6%, in 1991.
That places Costa Rica 64th out of 187 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 22.4% | — |
| 1991 | 17.6% | -21.5% |
| 1992 | 18.6% | +5.8% |
| 1993 | 18.8% | +1.0% |
| 1994 | 19.6% | +4.2% |
| 1995 | 18.9% | -3.4% |
| 1996 | 19.9% | +4.9% |
| 1997 | 20.2% | +1.5% |
| 1998 | 20.5% | +1.6% |
| 1999 | 21.2% | +3.6% |
| 2000 | 21.1% | -0.3% |
| 2001 | 21.8% | +3.0% |
| 2002 | 21.8% | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 21.8% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 21.3% | -2.4% |
| 2005 | 21.8% | +2.1% |
| 2006 | 22.0% | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 23.1% | +4.9% |
| 2008 | 23.7% | +2.4% |
| 2009 | 22.1% | -6.7% |
| 2010 | 22.1% | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 22.6% | +2.3% |
| 2012 | 22.6% | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 23.0% | +1.8% |
| 2014 | 22.6% | -1.6% |
| 2015 | 22.9% | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 23.5% | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 23.0% | -2.1% |
| 2018 | 23.2% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 23.4% | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 22.6% | -3.6% |
| 2021 | 24.8% | +10.1% |
| 2022 | 25.2% | +1.4% |
| 2023 | 24.9% | -1.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 19.8% | 17.6% | 22.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 22.1% | 21.1% | 23.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 22.9% | 22.1% | 23.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 24.4% | 22.6% | 25.2% | 4 |
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 revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, annual growth rate -1.01 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Costa Rica?
- Tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality in Costa Rica was 24.9% in 2023, according to UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 25.2% in 2022.
- What is the lowest tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.6% in 1991.
- How does Costa Rica rank for tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality?
- Costa Rica ranks 64th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is tax revenue as share of gdp vs. income inequality rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is up 8.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from UNU-WIDER Government Revenue Dataset (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Taxes include direct and indirect taxes as well as social contributions. The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality.