Costa Rica: Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Costa Rica's revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) fell 1.1% on 2023 (from 13.81 trillion to 13.66 trillion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +14.1% and a typical year strayed about 7.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 67% in 1982 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.8% 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 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 812.49 billion a year. A straight line explains 96% 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 16.13 trillion for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.3 trillion, against 2.1 trillion 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 2024, Costa Rica had the 15th highest value of the 91 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

• China — 12th of 91: 20.13 trillion
• Angola — 13th of 91: 18.97 trillion
• Türkiye — 14th of 91: 14.03 trillion
• Madagascar — 16th of 91: 9.73 trillion
• Mexico — 17th of 91: 6.51 trillion
• United States — 18th of 91: 5.21 trillion

What this measures

Revenue is an increase in net worth resulting from a transaction. Grants are excluded from this figure. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This series is expressed in local currency units.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

All 53 values

Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 98.45 trillion (2024)
• Bahamas, The — 3.07 billion (2024)
• Barbados — 2.86 billion (2016)
• Belize — 1.08 billion (2017)
• Brazil — 3.12 trillion (2024)
• Chile — 67.9 trillion (2024)
• Colombia — 442.87 trillion (2024)
• Dominican Republic — 1.3 trillion (2024)
• Ecuador — 35.96 billion (2022)
• El Salvador — 9.51 billion (2024)

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 (% of GDP) — 27.42% (2024)
• Taxes on exports (current LCU) — 10.93 billion (2024)
• Taxes on exports (% of tax revenue)

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 revenue, excluding grants (current LCU)?

13.66 trillion in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1972?

It is up 1.09 million% from 1.25 billion in 1972 (19.58% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 13.81 trillion in 2023 and the lowest 1.25 billion in 1972.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.REV.XGRT.CN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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.