Costa Rica: Female share of employment in senior and middle management (%)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 15.88 percentage points from 62.09% in 2020. Since 2001 it is up 20.97 percentage points from 25.24% in 2001. The World Bank has no value for 9 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2025, Costa Rica's female share of employment in senior and middle management (%) fell 3.86 percentage points on 2024 (from 50.07% to 46.21%).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2002 to 2024), the average change was +0.77 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 8.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 19.32 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 20.46 percentage points in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2017 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 10% of the movement over 9 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Costa Rica had the 3rd highest value of the 33 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Costa Rica in the 2025 ranking

• Dominican Republic — 1st of 33: 47.78%
• Belarus — 2nd of 33: 46.97%
• Honduras — 4th of 33: 45.96%
• Ecuador — 5th of 33: 45.28%
• United States — 6th of 33: 44.06%

What this measures

The female share of employment in senior and middle management conveys the number of women in management as a percentage of employment in management. Employment in management is defined based on the International Standard Classification of Occupations. This series refers to senior and middle management only, thus excluding junior management (category 1 in both ISCO-08 and ISCO-88 minus category 14 in ISCO-08 and minus category 13 in ISCO-88).

Limitations: The main limitation of this indicator is that it fails to capture the differences in the levels of responsibility of women in their respective managerial position, or the importance of the enterprises and organizations in which they are employed. Its quality is also significantly impacted by the reliability of the employment statistics by occupation at the two-digit level of the ISCO. Whenever data at the two-digit level of the ISCO are not available, data at the one-digit level could be used as a proxy, referring only to major group 1 of ISCO-08 or ISCO-88, rather than to also refer to major group 1 minus category 14 of ISCO-08 or major group 1 minus category 13 of ISCO-88.

All 16 values

Female share of employment in senior and middle management (%) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 34.07% (2025)
• Bolivia — 26.35% (2025)
• Brazil — 38.7% (2025)
• Chile — 31.6% (2022)
• Colombia — 41.9% (2025)
• Dominican Republic — 47.78% (2025)
• Ecuador — 45.28% (2025)
• El Salvador — 43.84% (2025)
• Guatemala

More social protection & labor data for Costa Rica

• Net migration — 1,000 (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 36,395 (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (national estimate) — 27.37% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (national estimate) — 42.65% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (national estimate) — 35.96% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 44.11% (2025)
• Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate) — 65.13% (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Costa Rica's female share of employment in senior and middle management (%)?

46.21% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2001?

It is up 20.97 percentage points from 25.24% in 2001. The highest value was 62.09% in 2020 and the lowest 24.88% in 2005.

How does Costa Rica rank?

3rd highest of 33 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in female share of employment in senior and middle management (%) unusual for Costa Rica?

In 2025, Costa Rica's female share of employment in senior and middle management (%) fell 3.86 percentage points on 2024 (from 50.07% to 46.21%). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2002 to 2024), the average change was +0.77 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 8.71 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.EMP.SMGT.FE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Labour Market-related SDG Indicators database (ILOSDG), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external database, date accessed: September 28, 2026 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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