Costa Rica: Land area (sq. km)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Costa Rica's land area (sq. km) did not change 0% on 2023 (from 50,560 to 50,560).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0% and a typical year strayed about 0.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly fall was 1% 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 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is downward, about 72.73 a year. A straight line explains 73% 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 2024, Costa Rica had the 126th highest value of the 214 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 2024 ranking

• Croatia — 123rd of 214: 55,960
• Togo — 124th of 214: 54,390
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 125th of 214: 51,200
• Dominican Republic — 127th of 214: 48,198
• Slovak Republic — 128th of 214: 48,080
• Estonia — 129th of 214: 42,730

What this measures

Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.

Limitations: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations.

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

All 64 values

Land area (sq. km) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 440.3 (2024)
• Argentina — 2.74 million (2024)
• Aruba — 180 (2024)
• Bahamas, The — 10,010 (2024)
• Barbados — 431 (2024)
• Belize — 22,810 (2024)
• Bolivia — 1.09 million (2024)
• Brazil — 8.36 million (2024)
• British Virgin Islands — 151 (2024)
• Cayman Islands — 240 (2024)
• Chile — 742,032 (2024)
• Colombia — 1.11 million (2024)

More environment data for Costa Rica

• Population in largest city — 1.5 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 36.58% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 1.5 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 29.16% (2025)
• Rural population — 1.04 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 20.27% (2025)
• Urban population — 4.11 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 79.73% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 12,168 (2024)

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 land area (sq. km)?

50,560 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is down 0.98% from 51,060 in 1961. The highest value was 51,060 in 1961 and the lowest 50,560 in 2021.

How does Costa Rica rank?

126th highest of 214 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in land area (sq. km) unusual for Costa Rica?

In 2024, Costa Rica's land area (sq. km) did not change 0% on 2023 (from 50,560 to 50,560). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0% and a typical year strayed about 0.2% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above 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 AG.LND.TOTL.K2, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL, publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.