Costa Rica vs Panama: Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19)
Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) over time
- Costa Rica
- Panama
How they compare
Panama currently reports 1,097 against 805.39 in Costa Rica, a difference of 291.61.
That makes Panama's figure about 1.4 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 13th of 47 countries.
Panama has averaged higher in every one of the 2 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Panama | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 887.59 | 892.93 | 5.35 | Panama |
| 2020s | 827.86 | 1,040 | 212.12 | Panama |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19), Costa Rica or Panama?
- Panama, at 1,097 against 805.39 in Costa Rica as of 2025.
- What is the difference in informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19) between Costa Rica and Panama?
- 291.61, 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 informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19)?
- Costa Rica ranks 16th and Panama ranks 13th of 47 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- International Labour Organization, published as Informal employment (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 informal employment 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.