Costa Rica vs Uruguay: Informal employment
Informal employment over time
- Costa Rica
- Uruguay
How they compare
Costa Rica currently reports 33.8% against 31.3% in Uruguay, a difference of 2.5%.
That makes Costa Rica's figure about 1.1 times Uruguay's.
Across all 7 years both countries report, Costa Rica has been ahead every year.
Costa Rica ranks 10th and Uruguay ranks 12th of 45 countries.
Costa Rica has averaged higher in every one of the 2 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Uruguay | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 37.3% | 23.5% | 13.8% | Costa Rica |
| 2020s | 35.0% | 25.2% | 9.8% | Costa Rica |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher informal employment, Costa Rica or Uruguay?
- Costa Rica, at 33.8% against 31.3% in Uruguay as of 2025.
- What is the difference in informal employment between Costa Rica and Uruguay?
- 2.5%, with Costa Rica ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Uruguay?
- 7 years are reported by both, from 2019 to 2025.
- How do Costa Rica and Uruguay rank globally for informal employment?
- Costa Rica ranks 10th and Uruguay ranks 12th of 45 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as Informal employment (% of total non-agricultural employment). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
This indicator shows the share of workers at working age in informal employment in non-agricultural activities out of total employment in non-agricultural activities, expressed as a percentage. Informal employment comprises workers whose main or secondary jobs are informal. For own-account workers and employers, informality is determined by enterprise characteristics (unincorporated, market-based, and unregistered); for contributing family workers, it is determined by the absence of written contracts and lack of coverage under labor legislation; and for employees, it is determined by whether the employment relationship is not subject to national labor legislation, income taxation, or social protection. The data are based on the statistical standards adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).