Share of Self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica
Costa Rica: Share of Self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment was 46.43 % in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of Self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica, 2001–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, share of self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica stood at 46.43 %.
That represents a change of down 9.0% on the previous year and down 10.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica peaked at 64.3 % in 2020 and was at its lowest, 25.42 %, in 2008.
That places Costa Rica 40th out of 67 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Share of Self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 37.6 % | — |
| 2002 | 36.91 % | -1.8% |
| 2003 | 36.04 % | -2.4% |
| 2004 | 36.62 % | +1.6% |
| 2005 | 36.71 % | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 29.31 % | -20.2% |
| 2007 | 26.87 % | -8.3% |
| 2008 | 25.42 % | -5.4% |
| 2009 | 25.91 % | +1.9% |
| 2017 | 51.97 % | +100.6% |
| 2018 | 57.53 % | +10.7% |
| 2019 | 60.77 % | +5.6% |
| 2020 | 64.3 % | +5.8% |
| 2021 | 60.59 % | -5.8% |
| 2022 | 58.09 % | -4.1% |
| 2023 | 52.74 % | -9.2% |
| 2024 | 51.04 % | -3.2% |
| 2025 | 46.43 % | -9.0% |
Costa Rica compared with similar countries
- Costa Rica's 46.43 % is above the median for high income countries, which is 19.2 %, 2.4× the median. (18 countries reporting)
- Costa Rica's 46.43 % is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 47.66 %, 97% of the median. (17 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of Self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +100.6% | 25.91 % | 51.97 % |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 32.38 % | 25.42 % | 37.6 % | 9 |
| 2010s | 56.76 % | 51.97 % | 60.77 % | 3 |
| 2020s | 55.53 % | 46.43 % | 64.3 % | 6 |
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 self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica?
- Share of self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in Costa Rica was 46.43 % in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest share of self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment recorded in Costa Rica?
- The highest recorded value was 64.3 % in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment recorded in Costa Rica?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.42 % in 2008.
- How does Costa Rica rank for share of self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment?
- Costa Rica ranks 40th out of 67 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment rising or falling in Costa Rica?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Costa Rica data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Share of Self-employed people in [industry] out of total employment in [industry] by [sex]: Total AFS employment — Value — Female — All age ranges or no breakdown by age — National — Agrifood systems. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 18 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The Suite of Gender Indicators presents a set of indicators relevant to agrifood systems that are disaggregated by sex, with the aim of highlighting gender differences across agrifood systems. The initial set of indicators is based on those used in FAO’s 2023 Status of Women in Agrifood Systems (SWAFS) report and on the recommendations of an expert consultation held in December 2023, and covers key dimensions including economic participation, governance, agency, social norms, assets and services, education, health, and nutrition. Indicator selection was informed by expert judgment and by the availability of data with sufficient geographic and temporal coverage to enable meaningful comparisons across regions and over time. While most indicators are produced and published by FAO and other international organizations, the objective of this domain is to provide a one-stop shop for sex-disaggregated data on agrifood systems.