Country statistics

64 out of 189 in Human Development Index rankings (UNDP, 2022)  

$13,179 Average annual salary per person (World Bank, 2023)  

70% of households are shut out of the housing market because of the rising cost of property (Costa Rican Times, 2024) 

Costa Rica, with its population of just over 5 million, is a country in Central America neighbouring Panama and Nicaragua and Panama. Roughly half of the population live in urban areas, with just over a fifth of the population living in the country’s capital, San Jose (CIA World Factbook; Worldometers, 2025).  

Costa Rica is considered a relative success story within the seven countries of Central America, and now classed as an upper middle-income country. Poverty rates fell to the lowest rate in the observed period in 2023 [starting in 2013] and was at 3% of the population who were living off less than $3.20 a day (Statistica, 2023). 

The country has a sustained commitment of nearly 20% of their GDP on social spending which has helped the country to provide universal education, healthcare, clean water, sanitation and electricity and lower rates of child mortality and increase the country’s life expectancy (CIA World Factbook).  

As a result of the social support from the government, Costa Rica is a popular destination for immigration from other countries. Nearly one in ten people in the country are foreign born and have come to the country to access increased work opportunities and a higher quality of life (CIA World Factbook).  

Despite this, there are still high rates of inequality within the country. Immigrants are increasingly facing higher rates of poverty than the general population, with numbers rising substantially from 10% higher to 50% higher during the Covid-19 pandemic (World Bank, 2022).  

Single mothers, and their children, are also at high risk of poverty, with more than half of single mothers considered poor because of their lack of access to the labour market and a lack of social subsidy to make up for this (World Bank, 2022.)  

There is also an increasingly growing shortage of affordable housing, this combined with a change to government policy has meant that 70% of households are shut out of the housing market because of the rising cost of property (Costa Rican Times, 2024).   

As of 2023, 4,530 people were recorded as experiencing homelessness, with men (88%) significantly more likely to experience homelessness rather than women (12%). Figures are collected by the government through a point in time study and the census, and covers 4/6 of the ETHOS Light Criteria for Homelessness, omitting people who are in institutions or living with others in temporary situations such as sofa surfing (OECD, 2023). 

The COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession has exacerbated unemployment, which in turn risks more homelessness. Thousands of refugees from Nicaragua and Venezuela have also been arriving in Costa Rica since 2017, putting further pressure on the housing situation.