Costa Rica: General government final consumption expenditure (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Costa Rica's general government final consumption expenditure (current US$) rose 5.8% on 2024 (from US$13.62 billion to US$14.42 billion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +8.1% and a typical year strayed about 7.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 29.3% in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 53.1% in 1981. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$472.93 million a year. A straight line explains 79% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about US$14.6 billion for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was US$1.78 billion, against US$3.03 billion for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2025, Costa Rica had the 65th highest value of the 131 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

• Uruguay — 62nd of 131: US$15.02 billion
• Dominican Republic — 63rd of 131: US$14.86 billion
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 64th of 131: US$14.51 billion
• Guatemala — 66th of 131: US$14.13 billion
• Azerbaijan — 67th of 131: US$11.79 billion
• Tunisia — 68th of 131: US$11.45 billion

What this measures

Final consumption expenditure is expenditure on goods and services by resident institutional units for the direct satisfaction of human needs or wants, whether individual or collective. General government FCE includes all government current expenditures for purchases of goods and services (including compensation of employees), and most expenditures on national defense and security, but excludes government military expenditures that are part of government capital formation. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.

Limitations: Because policymakers have tended to focus on fostering the growth of output, and because data on production are easier to collect than data on spending, many countries generate their primary estimate of GDP using the production approach. Moreover, many countries do not estimate all the components of national expenditures but instead derive some of the main aggregates indirectly using GDP (based on the production approach) as the control total.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 66 values

General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) in nearby economies

• Argentina — US$101.97 billion (2025)
• Aruba — US$746.48 million (2024)
• Bahamas, The — US$2.04 billion (2024)
• Belize — US$510.74 million (2024)
• Bolivia — US$9.07 billion (2024)
• Brazil — US$436.24 billion (2025)
• Chile — US$53.81 billion (2025)
• Colombia — US$70.85 billion (2025)
• Cuba — US$41.7 billion (2020)

More economic policy & debt data for Costa Rica

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$17.09 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$17.09 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 7.26 trillion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) — US$11.4 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (constant LCU) — 7 trillion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 14.01% (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$65.86 billion (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current LCU)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Costa Rica's general government final consumption expenditure (current US$)?

US$14.42 billion in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1960?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.CON.GOVT.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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