Costa Rica: Services, value added per worker (constant 2015 US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Costa Rica's services, value added per worker (constant 2015 US$) rose US$806.62 on 2024 (from US$33,435 to US$34,241).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +US$465.37 and a typical year strayed about US$1,024 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 rise was US$3,034 in 2023 and the biggest yearly fall was US$1,597 in 2024. 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$667.13 a year. A straight line explains 87% 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$37,405 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$1,440, against US$2,238 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 38th highest value of the 150 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

• Croatia — 34th of 150: US$36,811
• Estonia — 35th of 150: US$36,567
• Poland — 36th of 150: US$36,136
• Lithuania — 38th of 150: US$34,126
• Brunei Darussalam — 39th of 150: US$33,254
• Latvia — 40th of 150: US$32,633

What this measures

Services industries correspond to ISIC (Rev. 4) divisions 45-99 and includes wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities, public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private households with employed persons, and extra-territorial organizations and bodies. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. The core indicator has been divided by the number of workers in the economy to derive a measure of labor productivity. This indicator is expressed in constant prices, meaning the series has been adjusted to account for price changes over time. The reference year for this adjustment is 2015. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.

Limitations: For comparability of individual sectors labor productivity is estimated according to national accounts conventions. However, there are still significant limitations on the availability of reliable data. Information on consistent series of output is not easily available, especially in low- and middle-income countries, because the definition, coverage, and methodology are not always consistent across countries. For more details, see Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (constant 2015 US$) [NV.AGR.TOTL.KD], Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$) [NV.IND.TOTL.KD], and Services, value added (constant 2015 US$) [NV.SRV.TOTL.KD].

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

All 35 values

Services, value added per worker (constant 2015 US$) in nearby economies

• Argentina — US$23,294 (2025)
• Bahamas, The — US$56,014 (2024)
• Barbados — US$41,661 (2024)
• Belize — US$14,744 (2025)
• Bolivia — US$5,100 (2024)
• Brazil — US$17,819 (2025)
• Chile — US$27,344 (2025)
• Colombia — US$14,167 (2025)
• Cuba — US$19,918 (2024)
• Dominican Republic

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$17.09 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$14.42 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 7.26 trillion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) — US$11.4 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (constant LCU) — 7 trillion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 14.01% (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current US$)

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 services, value added per worker (constant 2015 US$)?

US$34,241 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1991?

It is up 75.31% from US$19,532 in 1991 (1.66% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$35,032 in 2023 and the lowest US$18,022 in 1998.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NV.SRV.EMPL.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Development Indicators database, World Bank (WB); ILOSTAT database, International Labour Organization (ILO) 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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