Costa Rica: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Costa Rica's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 47.6% on 2019 (from US$1.33 billion to US$697 million).

Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +7.1% and a typical year strayed about 15.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 36.7% in 2015 and the biggest yearly fall was 47.6% in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$62.85 million a year. A straight line explains 42% 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.

How it compares

In 2020, Costa Rica had the 61st highest value of the 129 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 2020 ranking

• Croatia — 59th of 129: US$789.69 million
• Chile — 60th of 129: US$720 million
• Cameroon — 61st of 129: US$697 million
• Angola — 63rd of 129: US$691 million
• Estonia — 64th of 129: US$676 million
• Bangladesh — 65th of 129: US$659 million

What this measures

International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Limitations: Tourism can be either domestic or international. The data refers to international tourism, where the traveler's country of residence differs from the visiting country. International tourism consists of inbound (arrival) and outbound (departures) tourism. The data are from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a United Nations agency. The data on inbound and outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures, not to the number of people traveling. Expenditure associated with the activity of international visitors has been traditionally identified with the travel item of the Balance of Payments (BOP).

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

All 26 values

International tourism, expenditures (current US$) in nearby economies

• Argentina — US$2.75 billion (2020)
• Aruba — US$310 million (2020)
• Bahamas, The — US$166 million (2020)
• Barbados — US$99 million (2016)
• Belize — US$22.04 million (2020)
• Bolivia — US$325 million (2020)
• Brazil — US$6.49 billion (2020)
• Cayman Islands — US$299 million (2019)
• Chile — US$720 million (2020)
• Colombia

More private sector & trade data for Costa Rica

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 52.39% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$27.48 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$26.43 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 61.44% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 20.08% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America & the Caribbean (% of total merchandise imports) — 18.45% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.03% (2023)

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 international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$697 million in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 107.44% from US$336 million in 1995 (2.96% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$1.33 billion in 2019 and the lowest US$336 million in 1995.

How does Costa Rica rank?

61st highest of 129 economies with data for 2020.

Is the latest change in international tourism, expenditures (current US$) unusual for Costa Rica?

In 2020, Costa Rica's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 47.6% on 2019 (from US$1.33 billion to US$697 million). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +7.1% and a typical year strayed about 15.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ST.INT.XPND.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism 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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