Costa Rica vs Panama: Employment outside the formal sector (current ILO definition - ICLS19)
Employment outside the formal sector (current ILO definition - ICLS19) over time
- Costa Rica
- Panama
How they compare
Panama currently reports 885.98 against 804.48 in Costa Rica, a difference of 81.5.
That makes Panama's figure about 1.1 times Costa Rica's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 11 shared years of data; in 2014 it was Costa Rica ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 16th and Panama ranks 15th of 46 countries.
Across the 2 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 1 and Panama in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Panama | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 838.99 | 718.25 | 120.74 | Costa Rica |
| 2020s | 826.04 | 859.9 | 33.86 | Panama |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher employment outside the formal sector (current ilo definition - icls19), Costa Rica or Panama?
- Panama, at 885.98 against 804.48 in Costa Rica as of 2025.
- What is the difference in employment outside the formal sector (current ilo definition - icls19) between Costa Rica and Panama?
- 81.5, with Panama ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Panama?
- 11 years are reported by both, from 2014 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and Panama rank globally for employment outside the formal sector (current ilo definition - icls19)?
- Costa Rica ranks 16th and Panama ranks 15th of 46 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- International Labour Organization, published as Employment outside the formal sector (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series includes only countries for which the 19th ICLS definitions are applied. This harmonized series for employment outside the formal sector is derived using the same set of criteria across countries to improve comparability. The criteria used are based on employment status, institutional sector, destination of production, bookkeeping, registration, social security contribution, places of work and size. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.