Costa Rica: Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

Key figures

Since 1963 it is up 700% from 1 million in 1963 (3.78% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 43 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Costa Rica in the 2019 ranking

• Nicaragua — 1st of 4: 13 million
• Burundi — 3rd of 4: 2 million
• Lesotho — 4th of 4: 1 million

What this measures

Arms transfers (imports) cover the volume of transfers of major arms through sales and gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs). A '0' indicates that the volume of deliveries is between 0 and 0.5 million SIPRI TIV.

Limitations: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 14 values

Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 108 million (2025)
• Bahamas, The — 12 million (2017)
• Bolivia — 0 (2024)
• Brazil — 462 million (2025)
• Chile — 14 million (2025)
• Colombia — 22 million (2025)
• Dominican Republic — 13 million (2025)
• Ecuador — 30 million (2025)
• El Salvador — 3 million (2025)
• Guatemala — 6 million (2023)

More public sector data for Costa Rica

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 0 (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 0 (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 0% (2025)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 2.62 trillion (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 18.37% (2024)
• Social contributions (current LCU) — 4.93 trillion (2024)
• Social contributions (% of revenue) — 34.59% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 13.66 trillion (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 27.42% (2024)
• Taxes on exports (current LCU)

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Questions people ask

What is Costa Rica's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?

8 million in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1963?

It is up 700% from 1 million in 1963 (3.78% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 8 million in 2019 and the lowest 0 in 1966.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.MPRT.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/ Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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