Share of cereals allocated to human food in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Share of cereals allocated to human food was 45.3% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of cereals allocated to human food 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 %.
Analysis
Costa Rica recorded 45.3% for share of cereals allocated to human food in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.4% on the previous year and down 9.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of cereals allocated to human food in Costa Rica peaked at 88.7% in 1961 and was at its lowest, 42.5%, in 2007.
Costa Rica ranks 131st of 192 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.
Share of cereals allocated to human food in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 88.7% | — |
| 1962 | 86.6% | -2.4% |
| 1963 | 86.3% | -0.3% |
| 1964 | 83.1% | -3.8% |
| 1965 | 85.2% | +2.6% |
| 1966 | 82.9% | -2.7% |
| 1967 | 82.6% | -0.4% |
| 1968 | 82.0% | -0.7% |
| 1969 | 81.7% | -0.5% |
| 1970 | 80.3% | -1.6% |
| 1971 | 80.3% | -0.1% |
| 1972 | 78.4% | -2.4% |
| 1973 | 76.9% | -1.8% |
| 1974 | 74.8% | -2.7% |
| 1975 | 70.8% | -5.4% |
| 1976 | 67.7% | -4.3% |
| 1977 | 69.9% | +3.3% |
| 1978 | 65.7% | -6.1% |
| 1979 | 70.3% | +7.1% |
| 1980 | 70.9% | +0.9% |
| 1981 | 60.8% | -14.3% |
| 1982 | 71.6% | +17.9% |
| 1983 | 74.0% | +3.3% |
| 1984 | 74.2% | +0.2% |
| 1985 | 72.7% | -2.0% |
| 1986 | 73.0% | +0.4% |
| 1987 | 75.9% | +4.0% |
| 1988 | 65.2% | -14.1% |
| 1989 | 64.6% | -0.9% |
| 1990 | 63.7% | -1.3% |
| 1991 | 65.6% | +3.0% |
| 1992 | 66.2% | +0.9% |
| 1993 | 65.8% | -0.6% |
| 1994 | 49.8% | -24.3% |
| 1995 | 53.1% | +6.7% |
| 1996 | 50.5% | -4.9% |
| 1997 | 48.4% | -4.1% |
| 1998 | 49.1% | +1.4% |
| 1999 | 51.0% | +4.0% |
| 2000 | 47.3% | -7.3% |
| 2001 | 47.4% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 45.8% | -3.5% |
| 2003 | 46.0% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 50.9% | +10.8% |
| 2005 | 54.3% | +6.6% |
| 2006 | 48.3% | -11.0% |
| 2007 | 42.5% | -12.0% |
| 2008 | 44.6% | +4.9% |
| 2009 | 45.9% | +3.0% |
| 2010 | 49.5% | +7.9% |
| 2011 | 50.1% | +1.2% |
| 2012 | 50.1% | -0.0% |
| 2013 | 49.8% | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 45.1% | -9.5% |
| 2015 | 44.4% | -1.5% |
| 2016 | 46.2% | +3.9% |
| 2017 | 44.9% | -2.7% |
| 2018 | 45.4% | +1.1% |
| 2019 | 47.3% | +4.1% |
| 2020 | 47.6% | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 43.4% | -8.9% |
| 2022 | 47.9% | +10.4% |
| 2023 | 45.3% | -5.4% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 45.3% is above the median for high income countries, which is 38.1%, 1.2× the median. (63 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 45.3% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 55.5%, 82% of the median. (33 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 84.3% | 81.7% | 88.7% | 9 |
| 1970s | 73.5% | 65.7% | 80.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 70.3% | 60.8% | 75.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 56.3% | 48.4% | 66.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 47.3% | 42.5% | 54.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 47.3% | 44.4% | 50.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 46.1% | 43.4% | 47.9% | 4 |
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 share of cereals allocated to human food in Costa Rica?
- Share of cereals allocated to human food in Costa Rica was 45.3% 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 share of cereals allocated to human food recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 88.7% in 1961.
- What is the lowest share of cereals allocated to human food recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 42.5% in 2007.
- How does Costa Rica rank for share of cereals allocated to human food?
- Costa Rica ranks 131st out of 192 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of cereals allocated to human food rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.1%. 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 Share of cereals allocated to human food. 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
Share of cereals available for domestic use – after accounting for trade – that is allocated to direct human consumption, relative to the total used for human food, animal feed, and industrial purposes. This excludes cereals used for seed, processing, and losses.