Agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals was 60.7% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica, 2012–2022
Source: AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, FAO, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of total freshwater withdrawal.
Analysis
The most recent figure for agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica is 60.7%, measured in 2022. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of down 15.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica peaked at 82.0% in 2017 and was at its lowest, 60.7%, in 2021.
That places Costa Rica 90th out of 180 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % of total freshwater withdrawal | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 71.6% | — |
| 2013 | 70.2% | -1.9% |
| 2014 | 70.6% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 72.1% | +2.1% |
| 2016 | 73.1% | +1.4% |
| 2017 | 82.0% | +12.1% |
| 2018 | 68.6% | -16.3% |
| 2019 | 66.0% | -3.9% |
| 2020 | 66.2% | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 60.7% | -8.2% |
| 2022 | 60.7% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 71.8% | 66.0% | 82.0% | 8 |
| 2020s | 62.5% | 60.7% | 66.2% | 3 |
Countries ranked near Costa Rica
More agriculture & rural data for Costa Rica
- 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)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.2027 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 3.4% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 3.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.1% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica?
- Agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals in Costa Rica was 60.7% in 2022, according to AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, FAO, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 82.0% in 2017.
- What is the lowest agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.7% in 2021.
- How does Costa Rica rank for agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals?
- Costa Rica ranks 90th out of 180 countries with data for 2022.
- Is agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from AQUASTAT - FAO's Global Information System on Water and Agriculture, FAO, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Agricultural water as a share of total water withdrawals. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Agricultural water withdrawals as a percentage of total water withdrawals (which is the sum of water used for agriculture, industry and domestic purposes). Agricultural water is defined as the annual quantity of self-supplied water withdrawn for irrigation, livestock and aquaculture purposes.