Agricultural land per capita in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Agricultural land per capita was 0.3315 hectares per capita in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
0.3315 hectares per capita
Change on year
down 0.5%
World rank
120th
of 226 countries
All-time high
1.06 hectares per capita
in 1982
All-time low
0.3315 hectares per capita
in 2023
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Agricultural land per capita in Costa Rica, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares per capita.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 0.3315 hectares per capita for agricultural land per capita in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and down 13.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land per capita in Costa Rica peaked at 1.06 hectares per capita in 1982 and was at its lowest, 0.3315 hectares per capita, in 2023.
Costa Rica ranks 120th of 226 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Agricultural land per capita in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | hectares per capita | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1.01 hectares per capita | — |
| 1962 | 0.9864 hectares per capita | -2.6% |
| 1963 | 0.9584 hectares per capita | -2.8% |
| 1964 | 0.9681 hectares per capita | +1.0% |
| 1965 | 0.9803 hectares per capita | +1.3% |
| 1966 | 0.9981 hectares per capita | +1.8% |
| 1967 | 0.9683 hectares per capita | -3.0% |
| 1968 | 0.9864 hectares per capita | +1.9% |
| 1969 | 1 hectares per capita | +1.4% |
| 1970 | 1.01 hectares per capita | +0.9% |
| 1971 | 0.9992 hectares per capita | -1.0% |
| 1972 | 0.9736 hectares per capita | -2.6% |
| 1973 | 1.03 hectares per capita | +5.8% |
| 1974 | 1 hectares per capita | -2.5% |
| 1975 | 1.01 hectares per capita | +1.0% |
| 1976 | 1.03 hectares per capita | +1.2% |
| 1977 | 1.04 hectares per capita | +1.0% |
| 1978 | 1.04 hectares per capita | +0.5% |
| 1979 | 1.05 hectares per capita | +0.8% |
| 1980 | 1.05 hectares per capita | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 1.06 hectares per capita | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 1.06 hectares per capita | +0.3% |
| 1983 | 1.03 hectares per capita | -2.6% |
| 1984 | 1.03 hectares per capita | -0.3% |
| 1985 | 0.9778 hectares per capita | -5.1% |
| 1986 | 0.9272 hectares per capita | -5.2% |
| 1987 | 0.8777 hectares per capita | -5.3% |
| 1988 | 0.8298 hectares per capita | -5.5% |
| 1989 | 0.7813 hectares per capita | -5.9% |
| 1990 | 0.7043 hectares per capita | -9.9% |
| 1991 | 0.6882 hectares per capita | -2.3% |
| 1992 | 0.6577 hectares per capita | -4.4% |
| 1993 | 0.6275 hectares per capita | -4.6% |
| 1994 | 0.607 hectares per capita | -3.3% |
| 1995 | 0.5793 hectares per capita | -4.6% |
| 1996 | 0.5513 hectares per capita | -4.8% |
| 1997 | 0.5276 hectares per capita | -4.3% |
| 1998 | 0.5062 hectares per capita | -4.0% |
| 1999 | 0.4889 hectares per capita | -3.4% |
| 2000 | 0.4673 hectares per capita | -4.4% |
| 2001 | 0.4572 hectares per capita | -2.1% |
| 2002 | 0.448 hectares per capita | -2.0% |
| 2003 | 0.4419 hectares per capita | -1.4% |
| 2004 | 0.4338 hectares per capita | -1.8% |
| 2005 | 0.4236 hectares per capita | -2.4% |
| 2006 | 0.42 hectares per capita | -0.8% |
| 2007 | 0.4109 hectares per capita | -2.2% |
| 2008 | 0.4038 hectares per capita | -1.7% |
| 2009 | 0.4036 hectares per capita | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 0.3993 hectares per capita | -1.1% |
| 2011 | 0.3946 hectares per capita | -1.2% |
| 2012 | 0.3885 hectares per capita | -1.5% |
| 2013 | 0.3819 hectares per capita | -1.7% |
| 2014 | 0.3744 hectares per capita | -1.9% |
| 2015 | 0.3651 hectares per capita | -2.5% |
| 2016 | 0.3581 hectares per capita | -1.9% |
| 2017 | 0.3514 hectares per capita | -1.9% |
| 2018 | 0.3473 hectares per capita | -1.2% |
| 2019 | 0.3435 hectares per capita | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 0.3402 hectares per capita | -1.0% |
| 2021 | 0.3365 hectares per capita | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 0.333 hectares per capita | -1.0% |
| 2023 | 0.3315 hectares per capita | -0.5% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 0.3315 hectares per capita is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.2317 hectares per capita, 1.4× the median. (79 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 0.3315 hectares per capita is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.2545 hectares per capita, 1.3× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.9843 hectares per capita | 0.9584 hectares per capita | 1.01 hectares per capita | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.02 hectares per capita | 0.9736 hectares per capita | 1.05 hectares per capita | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.9629 hectares per capita | 0.7813 hectares per capita | 1.06 hectares per capita | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.5938 hectares per capita | 0.4889 hectares per capita | 0.7043 hectares per capita | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.431 hectares per capita | 0.4036 hectares per capita | 0.4673 hectares per capita | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3704 hectares per capita | 0.3435 hectares per capita | 0.3993 hectares per capita | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3353 hectares per capita | 0.3315 hectares per capita | 0.3402 hectares per capita | 4 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More agriculture & rural data for Costa Rica
- Cropland extent over the long-term, annual growth rate -0.5759 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cropland extent over the long-term, per unit of GDP 0 hectares per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Cropland extent over the long-term, per capita 0.0996 hectares per person (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, annual growth rate -0.1685 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, per unit of GDP 0 hectares per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, per capita 0.3415 hectares per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 4.56 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0337 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 672.15 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -1.57 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land per capita in Costa Rica?
- Agricultural land per capita in Costa Rica was 0.3315 hectares per capita in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest agricultural land per capita recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 1.06 hectares per capita in 1982.
- What is the lowest agricultural land per capita recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3315 hectares per capita in 2023.
- How does Costa Rica rank for agricultural land per capita?
- Costa Rica ranks 120th out of 226 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land per capita rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Agricultural land per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Agricultural land is the sum of cropland and land used as pasture for grazing livestock.